The GAFAM companies are seeking to strengthen their presence in the education sector, particularly through initiatives related to young people’s mental health. These actions, although presented as altruistic, are part of a broader strategy of informational conquest and the consolidation of their influence over future generations.<\/p>\n
The GAFAMs are multiplying partnerships with educational institutions and training programs, such as Jeunes citoyens du num\u00e9rique<\/em> via Unis-Cit\u00e9, in order to integrate their tools and services into schools. Facebook, for instance, has launched awareness campaigns on the \u201cpositive uses\u201d of social media in schools and is collaborating with P\u00f4le emploi to train 50,000 job seekers in digital skills. Alongside their expansion in education, the GAFAMs are increasingly communicating their involvement in digital well-being. Yet recent studies, such as Jonathan Haidt\u2019s The Anxious Generation<\/em>, highlight the negative effects of prolonged exposure to screens and social media: increased anxiety, sleep disorders, social isolation. The WHO also warns of the impact of technology on adolescents\u2019 cognitive and emotional development. In this context, EdTech players have a crucial role to play. Unlike GAFAMs, their primary mission is (or should be) to support skill development and learner well-being. This means designing educational tools that avoid attention-grabbing mechanisms, promote autonomy, and respect users\u2019 privacy. The growing presence of GAFAM in education, under the guise of caring about youth mental health, raises major issues of digital sovereignty and educational responsibility. It is imperative that EdTech actors actively commit to offering solutions that respect student well-being, based on pedagogical values rather than data exploitation. The GAFAM companies are seeking to strengthen their presence in the education sector, particularly through initiatives related to young people’s mental health. These actions, although presented as altruistic, are part of a broader strategy of informational conquest and the consolidation of their influence over future generations. A Growing GAFAM Presence in Education The GAFAMs are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-future-of-education-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Beyond these isolated initiatives, the GAFAMs are building an ecosystem in which pedagogical tools, collaboration platforms, and cloud services are becoming ubiquitous in the learning process. Google Workspace for Education, Microsoft Teams, and Apple\u2019s iPads have become standard in many classrooms. This massive rollout raises concerns about the dependence of education systems on international private actors.<\/p>\nGrowing Concerns Over Youth Mental Health<\/h3>\n
In response to these concerns, the European Commission is tightening controls and calling for greater transparency. The Digital Services Act imposes content moderation and minor protection obligations on platforms\u2014but the core question remains: can GAFAMs be both judge and jury when it comes to regulating their own tools?<\/p>\nEdTech and the Burden of Educational Responsibility<\/h3>\n
The development of a sovereign, ethical, and European EdTech sector is now a necessity. It can be grounded in user-centered design principles, open governance, and partnerships with research institutions to properly assess the real impact of tools on mental health and learning.<\/p>\nConclusion: What Ethics for Tomorrow\u2019s EdTech?<\/h3>\n
At its core, the key question is this: should digital education be steered by those who own the infrastructure, or by those who uphold a societal vision of learning? This choice of model will shape the citizens of tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"