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Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced a workshop entitled "The Attention Economy: How Big Tech Firms Exploit Children and Hurt Families." The workshop will be held on May 28th at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. and streamed online. 

The event will bring together parents, and child safety experts, and government leaders to discuss how Big Tech companies impose addictive design features, erode parental authority, and fail to protect children from exposure to harmful content. Experts will also discuss concrete solutions to protect kids online, including age verification and parental consent requirements.

“Protecting kids online is a priority of the Trump-Vance FTC – and hosting this workshop will make that very clear,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “I look forward to hearing from some of the leading policy experts in this space as we continue to explore ways the FTC can support families.”

The event will begin at 9 a.m. ET at the FTC’s headquarters at 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20580. Registration will be required to attend in-person. Registration information will be posted to the event page prior to the workshop and a link to the livestream will be posted to FTC.gov the morning of the event.

The FTC is seeking input from those who are interested in participating as panelists for the workshop or who have expertise and relevant information to provide on any of the topics listed above. If you have expertise, email AttentionEconomy@ftc.gov by April 30, 2025. The FTC is not seeking substantive comments at this time.

Additional information, including a list of speakers and the agenda, will be posted to the event page in advance of the workshop.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. You can learn more about consumer topics and report scams, fraud, and bad business practices online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

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