The narrative revolves around a frantic situation where two parents, Frankie's mother and father, are in distress because their son is missing. Events unfold as they realize Frankie is not home and they fear he might be in danger after the school claims they gave permission for a dubious company involved. The parents’ anxiety escalates, leading to an argument about parental responsibilities and the decision to reach out to the authorities for help. Their desperation is heightened by the belief that a private company, linked with other missing children, might be involved.

The plot thickens with the involvement of the company which, through invasive surveillance, claims that Frankie has been at home playing on his laptop, interacting online with strangers. This revelation surprises the parents, exposing their ignorance about Frankie's activities and the company's intrusive monitoring practices. The ensuing conversation with the company representative unveils the disturbing reality of modern digital surveillance, privacy concerns, and the manipulation of children’s online interactions.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. engagement [ɛnˈɡeɪdʒmənt] - (noun) - An arrangement to do something or go somewhere at a fixed time. - Synonyms: (appointment, commitment, arrangement)

He didn't have a thing. An engagement.

2. polarization [ˌpoʊlərɪˈzeɪʃən] - (noun) - The division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. - Synonyms: (division, divergence, separation)

You're responsible for all kinds of harm. Alienation, polarization, genocide.

3. algorithm [ˈælɡəˌrɪðəm] - (noun) - A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer. - Synonyms: (procedure, formula, set of rules)

Actually, I do. Or my algorithms do.

4. autoplay [ˈɔtəˌpleɪ] - (noun) - A feature that automatically starts playing a video or audio track when it is loaded. - Synonyms: (auto-run, self-play, auto-start)

Someone must have turned off autoplay.

5. surveillance [sərˈveɪləns] - (noun) - Close observation, especially of a suspected spy or criminal. - Synonyms: (monitoring, oversight, supervision)

surveillance, capitalism

6. dopamine [ˈdoʊpəˌmiːn] - (noun) - A neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body. - Synonyms: (neurochemical, neurotransmitter, biochemical)

Users require regular injections of socially derived dopamine to maintain optimum connection.

7. exploitation [ˌɛksplɔɪˈteɪʃən] - (noun) - The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work. - Synonyms: (utilization, profiteering, misappropriation)

You're exploiting their attention. It's actually not the same thing.

8. propaganda [ˌprɒpəˈɡændə] - (noun) - Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. - Synonyms: (disinformation, promotion, advertisement)

The Internet is full of misinformation. misogyny, racism, fascism, pro anorexia, pro self harm, anti truth, anti nuance, anti empathy, toxic propaganda.

9. misogyny [mɪˈsɒdʒɪni] - (noun) - Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. - Synonyms: (chauvinism, sexism, antifeminism)

The Internet is full of misinformation. misogyny, racism, fascism, pro anorexia, pro self harm, anti truth, anti nuance, anti empathy, toxic propaganda.

10. nuance [ˈnjuːɑːns] - (noun) - A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound. - Synonyms: (subtlety, distinction, variation)

Anti truth, anti nuance, anti empathy, toxic propaganda.

Capture, who's looking after the children? - FT Film Standpoint

Honey? In here. Dinner's almost ready. Where's Frankie? Isn't he with you? He isn't home. He should be home. Yeah, I know. I thought he was with you. Why would he be with me? Because he isn't at home. He didn't text? Um, no, not me. You. No. No. Call him. I am. Answer phone. Then call the school. I'm calling the school.

He didn't have a thing. An engagement. He's a kid. He doesn't have engagement. Hi, it's Frankie Montt's mum. Is he there? Only he isn't back yet. And you gave permission. Permission? What permission? Said you gave permission. Why would you give permission? I didn't. Yes, you did. You signed. They said I didn't. All right, maybe I did. But you do, don't you? You just sign. You don't read. You just click the button. Give permission. I mean, you don't imagine that they'd take our son? Take him where? They didn't say.

Who's. Who's they? They wouldn't say. There must be someone else we can talk to at the. At the school. The head. They said it's not their responsibility. Won't she give permission to a private company? Nobody told me not to. You're an adult. Yeah, and he's a child. A school child. Surely it's their job to protect him. Isn't it yours? You're right. I'm his dad. And he is. I don't know where. So I should, uh. I should call the police. I should, shouldn't I? I should. I should call the police.

No, you should have your dinner and finish your wine. Oh, you think? No. Call the police. Hello? Please. Please. Yeah, my son is missing. He never came home from school, and, um. Can you hold, please? Uh, yeah, yeah, I'll hold. No, hold, please. Shut up. I'm dealing with this. Ooh. Yes. Yes. My son's name is Frankie. Frank Monk. M o n k. Date of birth? 5 February 2000. 913. Tell them he's 13. I've just given the date of birth. He's 13.

He's barely slept away. You know, he's got family, close friends, the odd sleepover. Are you mentioning sleepover? Don't tell me how to handle this when this is your fault. It's not my fault. This is his father's fault. He signed. He gave permission. Private company. Yes. What? They said they can't help us, that there's nothing they can do. Nothing. But they're the police and they're a private company, and we need to take it up with them. Okay. Okay, fine. Let's take it up with them.

I don't think it's appropriate to keep the parent of a missing child on hold. I thought you liked being on hold. It's not all my fault, you know. I'm sure I'm not the only parent who gave permission. You're not? I searched the company. I had to dig. But look, it's not just Frankie. Not just us. Hundreds and thousands of families with missing children for an hour, a day, a week, a year. Oh, well, that makes me feel better.

Why would that make you feel better? Because I'm not the only parent who gave. Oh, yeah. It's about my son. Frank Monk. M o n o. Automated option one. What's option one? If I've got an issue with the service, speak to a representative. I want to speak to a representative. Oh, my God. Where you going? Just speak to a representative. This is ridiculous.

There's a head office. It's nighttime. What are you gonna do, barge in there and demand they find Frankie? They won't know who the hell he is. I'll tell them he's my kid. Our son is missing. His name is Frankie Monk. And I believe you and your company are responsible. And not just for Frankie. Other kids. And not just kids. You're responsible for all kinds of harm. Alienation, polarization, genocide. Genocide.

I could go on if you like. Or you could let us through, and we can find our son. Can I get you anything? A tea, coffee, sparkling water? Oh, I'll have a sparkling water, please. Yep. What else are you missing? I said just regular water, then. Thanks. Thank you.

So, remind me of his name. Your son. Frank Monk. He's 13 years old. That's a lovely name. One moment while I search our database. What database? It's a private database. The search has brought up multiple matches, which is not unusual when you're as popular as we are to encounter duplicate data points. Our son's not a data point. Oh, no. He's so much more than that, I'm sure. Tell me, are any of these your son? Yeah. Yeah, that's Frankie there.

Why have you got a picture of his bedroom? It's actually a live feed. So your son's not missing. Hurrah. He's been at home the whole time. You didn't check upstairs? I didn't. We were rushing, busy, distracted. I was at home. I would have heard him. You were listening to a podcast about the future of technology. How'd you know that?

Why have you got a live feed of our son, the main thing is he's safe and entertained right now. He's speaking to Pavel on discord. What's discord? Who's Pavel? Are you spying on our son? We prefer to think of it like childcare, not intended to replace existing caregivers, but to supplement, because we understand you're busy. Modern life is busy. You're not too busy to care for our child, too busy to correctly read a form. Because you did give consent. No, I did not consent to this.

You seem to be under the impression that we're hard. Charlie. Frankie. Frankie. In some way, yeah. Yeah, that's my great impression. Yeah. Okay, well, perhaps you'd feel reassured by speaking to him. Frankie. Dad? Why are you calling me? I thought you were downstairs. Where. Where are you, at home? Yeah, I'm in my room. I'm on my laptop. What are you doing on your laptop? I'm doing homework. Why are you checking up on me? What is this? I I was worried. I'm not watching porn, if. If that's what you're asking.

Is that what you're asking? Dad? We're just glad you're safe. Mom's here, too. Mom, I swear I'm not watching porn. I know you guys are being weird. I'm gonna go. Well, he was actually watching porn. He said he wasn't, and I believe him. And that's your choice to turn away. But we prefer to see it all. The boring parts, the shameful parts, the parts that even Frankie doesn't know about. We always pay attention, always want to know. Can you say the same? You don't know my son better than me.

Actually, I do. Or my algorithms do. See here we track his msis. His what? His meaningful social interactions. Users require regular injections of socially derived dopamine to maintain optimum connection. And, uh, poor Frankie hasn't received a like in 15 minutes sad face, but I can boost it. There. Fixed. Your son is happy, safe, and meaningfully social. What. What's he doing now? Um, a friend has sent him a link. Of. Of what? Um, it's a beheading video.

He's watching a beheading video sent by a friend. So technically, it does still count as a meaningful social interaction. Stop it. Stop him watching it. My job here is to keep him watching, not to tell him what to watch. So once he's clicked on some. Okay, okay. He switched to something else. What? Porn. What are you doing to my child? If you are so worried about him, why don't you go to him at home? Because I have many other users to support.

How many of these are watching videos of beheadings? The majority of our subscribers are appropriately entertained. Ask one. Huh. Wouldn't that be a little bit weird? A middle aged man speaking to her? It's the Internet. Happens all the time. What is she doing? She. Photoshopping her body and displaying remarkable technical know how. These are core skills. Creating a fake thigh gap is not a core skill. And anyway, I thought the minimum age was 13.

These children don't look 13. I can't share data on users ages. You don't need data. Are you telling me they're 13? That user certainly skews younger. It's not a user. That's a baby. Still, they are happy, safe, and they're fine. It's just I think their video's finished. Someone must have turned off autoplay.

Let me just see. They're still not 13. I know this might seem disturbing because you're exploiting children. We're exploiting their attention. It's actually not the same thing. So what next? Each child gets subscribed at birth before they're born. As a condition of conception, we have the right to grow through optimized attention. Capture children have a right to grow, to be cared for, not captured. We're not actually capturing children. Aren't you?

Look, I understand you're scared. You're getting older, and the world is changing. You become more easily confused. I can see how this could seem alarming, but the Internet is safe. It was built by engineers. And do you know what else was built by engineers? Bridges. Do you worry about bridge safety? I don't leave my child unattended on bridges. And you don't need to leave them unattended online either. But you do. Even though you know deep down, don't you?

You do. You know that the Internet is full of misinformation. misogyny, racism, fascism, pro anorexia, pro self harm, anti truth, anti nuance, anti empathy, toxic propaganda. Or as we like to call it, engaging content. Well, if you know that it's that bad, why don't you do something to fix it? How? Turn off autoplay. Get rid of infinite scroll. surveillance, capitalism. Extreme material. Oh, yeah, that'd be good. And everyone will be happy and safe all of the time.

No harm is inevitable, offline and on. So that's a reason to not even try? I don't see you trying to change the world, either. See you online. Actually, you won't. Sorry, I seem to have spilt my water. Can I get another one? Maybe sparkling this time?

Oh, hey, is the Internet down? I was just on it, then it went out. It's good to have you back. But I've been here all this time. Still, it's good to have you back. Wait, let me. I got close.

Technology, Privacy, Surveillance, Modern Parenting, Education, Inspiration, Financial Times