Early Facebook and Google employees are planning to lobby against tech addiction

[Becky]

Addiction to technology is nothing new, but since the dawn of the Facebook era it has become a far more widespread problem, with concerns that it is even changing how society works. A group of former big tech company employees are lobbying to raise awareness and protect children from this trend:

In December, a former Facebook executive said the company was “ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.” A few weeks later, Facebook itself wondered whether it “might be having a negative impact on society.” Now a new alliance made up of former Silicon Valley cronies has aseembled to challenge the technological Frankenstein they’ve collectively created.

The Center for Humane Technology is a group comprising former employees and pals of Google, Facebook, and Mozilla. The nonprofit launches today (Feb. 4) in the hopes that it can raise awareness about the societal tolls of technology, which its members believe are inherently addictive.

The group will lobby for a bill to research the effects of technology on children’s health.

Read more here.