The kids are not alright: Meta's grip on teen mental health
Small Steps Vol. 89: 41 US states sue Meta for mental health harm to children 🧠; the cash for carbon hustle 💸; and the countdown to COP28 🌍.
Kick start
📱 The kids are not alright. We know there’s a teen mental health crisis – but how do we fix it? Last week, 41 US states launched a lawsuit against Meta in the largest collective action to date against a social network on the grounds of child safety. The suit claims that Meta had “designed psychologically manipulative product features to induce young users’ compulsive and extended use” of platforms like Instagram, with the clear motive of profit, and that it knew that young users’ brains “are particularly vulnerable to certain forms of manipulation” and actively “chose to exploit” that through features like filters.
The case has stemmed from an investigation triggered by whistleblowing in 2021 that showed that Meta knew Instagram had destructive effects on the mental health of young girls. We recommend reading this deep dive interview by the MIT Technology Review for an interesting look into the case and the issues beneath it, or this great explainer by journalist Casey Newton that sets out the key issues.
We’ll be staying tuned to see whether the case leads to policy reform and platform changes by Meta, and are interested to see the result of this much-needed stress-test of existing US privacy laws that are intended to protect minors’ data.
😶🌫️ Hot air and the cash-for-carbon hustle. The New Yorker recently published a feature on the Kariba carbon credit project in Zimbabwe, one of the world’s first ‘avoided deforestation’ programs covering an area ten times the size of New York City, alleging that it sold three million vastly overvalued or worthless credits. The exposé questions the efficacy of the project’s environmental regeneration and the extent to which profits were making it back to the local communities they were supposed to support.
It’s come to light that various Australian businesses had bought offsets from the scheme, including Origin Energy, KPMG and Zoos Victoria, and the Kariba project is under investigation by international carbon crediting registry Verra – whose verification methodology the project originally relied on.
Our take is that this underscores the importance of focusing on genuine decarbonisation and behavioural change now, rather than relying on offsets alone as a false panacea. Where offsets are still needed for hard to abate industries like manufacturing and aviation, carbon credit providers – and their consumers – need to be rigorous on ensuring genuine additionality, permanence, and the robust quantification of carbon removal.
🌎 The rocky road to COP28. With less than a month to go until COP28 kicks off in Dubai on 30 November and only a few precious years of our carbon budget left if we’re going to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, controversy continues to mount about the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists on the negotiations. The fact that this year’s COP President is senior minister Dr Sultan al-Jaber, who is also the CEO of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has led to deep concerns as to a lack of impartiality in this year’s negotiations. Earlier calls for Al-Jaber’s removal as COP President have not eventuated and, given all decisions of the COP must be made by consensus (that’s right - consensus on every single word), reaching any meaningful agreement will likely be a highly charged process.
Key elements for negotiation at the summit include the conclusion of the first global stocktake (the primary mechanism for tracking progress under the Paris Agreement), getting the loss and damage fund (established at COP27) up and running, and agreeing on a framework for the Paris Agreement’s global goal on adaptation (GGA). We’ll be watching the COP28 negotiations very closely.
New paths
🧻 Who Gives A Crap is seeking a Director of Engineering in Melbourne.
🌈 Want to challenge yourself at a high-growth startup and make a difference in the world but haven’t seen your dream job listed just yet? Who Gives A Crap has got you. Pitch your dream role to them here.
👐 Keen on impact investing? There are two incredible positions open: Regen Ventures is hiring a Head of Finance in Byron Bay, and Alberts on the lookout for an Investment Associate in Sydney.
🔌 Rewiring Australia is hiring a Communications Manager in Sydney - help the team amplify their already powerful voice in their mission to electrify everything!
🔥 Also, check out our Giant Leap Fund jobs board for over 45+ available positions or fill out our expression of interest form. There’s even more jobs at ethical companies on the global B-Work job board.
For the road
🌿 Our duty to nature. A new expert legal opinion has found that company directors need to consider nature-based risks in order to comply with their directors’ duties. The opinion, commissioned by Pollination and the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative, argues that directors of Australian companies need to identify their company's dependencies and impacts on nature and consider potential risks these pose to the company. Check out the opinion here for more detail.
🕺 Shaking off imposter syndrome. Why do some people innately believe they are not capable of success? This short video neatly tackles the issue of imposter syndrome and addresses its root: not recognising that the people who are already successful are as equally flawed as anyone else.
🖋️ Presidential productivity. Overwhelmed? Try the Eisenhower Box. It allows you to prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance and decide what to do first.
💊 Flying pharmacists. Amazon is testing out a new range of drones in Texas aimed at delivering prescription drugs within the hour. The goal is to narrow the window between diagnosing and treating illness within the community, and signals another milestone in Amazon’s push into the health market.
🌊 The unstoppable underwater bushfire. Yes, you read that right. A severe marine heatwave is bearing down on the southern half of Australia’s coastline, threatening the Great Southern Reef, which stretches all the way from Kalbarri in WA, around southern Australia and Tasmania, and up to Brisbane. Even a slight water temperature increase could raze the vital kelp, coral and seagrass ecosystems that make up the reef, which provides 20,000 tonnes of seafood per year and $11.5 billion worth of ecosystem services. Scientists are calling for more funding to monitor and protect key areas.
🧯 Councils fight Australia’s looming silent killer. Just as rising ocean temperatures are harming marine life, longer and stronger heatwaves are putting pressure on the community’s most vulnerable. Councils like the Greater City of Geelong are opening Climate Safe rooms for the community. Others are promoting Libraries and other public spaces as air-conditioned havens for hot days. This reminds us that adaptation is just as important as mitigation in the climate reality we now face.
👩⚕️ The best is yet to come. That’s the key takeaway from Bessemer Venture Partners’ first annual report into the Digital Health sector. The report’s four key predictions? That AI will give rise to Services-as-Software, that healthcare payments companies will win by aligning incentives, the healthtech businesses will leverage indirect monetisation for a distribution advantage, and that more startups are focusing on making the biopharma value chain more efficient.
🤖 WHO prescribes new AI laws. The World Health Organisation is calling for global regulation to govern health-related AI technology, arguing that, if left unchecked, it could exaggerate existing patient and treatment biases within the health system.
📖 How do I best utilise and manage my startup’s board? Wonder no more. LUNA has launched a short course aimed at arming founders with the tools they need to best utilise their board’s expertise.
Save the date
📅 15 November: Are you ready for takeoff…? ANDHealth’s Digital Health Summit is heading to Melbourne on November 15, with special guests Dr Kate Merton and Dr Ken Bahk and a focus on international market expansion! Learn more here.
📅 23 November: One Roof’s Startup Women of the Year - the Ultimate Anti-Pitch is back! Apply now for your chance to pitch for prizes valued up to $50,000. The event will be held in Sydney. Get in quick - applications close Sunday November 12! More info on how to apply here.
📅 November 28: Climate Salad’s Australian Climate Tech Festival & Awards 2023, Sydney. Gear up for a full day of interactive demos, engaging content, inspiring pitches, networking and awards on climate tech at the Sydney Town Hall. Tickets here, Climate Salad members receive a discount.
📅 November 29: The Australian Democracy Network’s intimate spring event with Executive Director Saffron Zomer, reflecting on global trends to protect democracy. 6 - 8 pm on 29 Nov in Sydney at Vivcourt, 188 Oxford St, Paddington. RSVP by email at info@australiandemocracy.org.au.
📅 December 4: Applications close for the Go-Green Co-Innovation Program’s first round of Grants. The program is a joint-initiative between Australia and Singapore, offering grants up to $500,000. More details here.