Kids digital safety concerns collide with prediction market debate

The scrutiny from Congress largely comes from a contingent of lawmakers who have long focused on kids’ digital safety, for which efforts have largely targeted the addictive nature of social media platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots. But as the rising popularity of prediction markets becomes impossible to ignore, lawmakers and safety advocates are wrestling with how to address the potential harms and addictive nature of betting markets on both minors and those younger than 21, the legal gambling age in most U.S. states. “The fear for me — prediction markets, gambling, you name it — is we’ve sort of introduced it into the cultural conversations, we’ve socialized it, and now a 17-year-old wants to do it,” Jonathan Cohen, the sports betting policy lead for the American Institute for Boys and Men, told The Hill.