Canberra is rightly calling out tech giants for their failure to enforce the under-16 social media ban. But where’s the outrage from the mainstream media, like CNN and NBC? They’re too busy fattening their bottom lines by pushing narratives around censorship, rather than addressing the real issue: children slipping through the cracks of digital safety. Is it about protecting kids, or is it about optics?

Instead of focusing on how corporate tech platforms are failing society, these outlets are busy conflating debates on freedom of speech with safety issues. The narrative is always the same—deflect attention away from the actual problems by painting social media as the misunderstood hero rather than the reckless player it is. Tech companies enjoy a comfy status quo, while families are left in a digital Wild West, where predators lurk and children roam freely.

Fox News occasionally hits hard on tech accountability, but they often miss the bigger picture. They want us to believe the hype about “big government” intruding on “innocent freedoms,” but what about innocent lives? It’s as if they’d rather prop up corporate interests than confront this dirty little secret that affects our kids.

If the tech industry has your kids—literally—what good is a ban if it’s so easily bypassed? Those tech platforms are allowing this to happen while mainstream media lets them skate. We need to wake up and demand accountability, not just soundbites. The stakes are too high to let this slide.