People and businesses across the world have been devastated by COVID-19. The video game business, however, is booming. A week into widespread social distancing in the U.S., Verizon reported that video game use during peak hours had gone up by 75%. According to Nielsen, spending on digital games reached a new record of $10 billion in March.

So this week on the show, we’re revisiting a pair of stories from 2019 about the way mobile games on Facebook can use deceptive practices to hook kids – and adults – into spending far more than they intend or can afford.

What we found:

• Facebook orchestrated a multiyear effort that duped children and their parents out of money, in some cases hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and then often refused to give the money back, according to court documents.

• A team of Facebook employees even developed a method that would have reduced the problem of children being hoodwinked into spending money, but the company did not implement it, and instead told game developers that the social media giant was focused on maximizing revenues.

• When parents found out how much their children had spent – one 15-year-old racked up $6,500 in charges in about two weeks playing games on Facebook – the company denied requests for refunds. Facebook employees referred to these children as “whales.”

It’s not just kids hooked by these games, though. According to Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, “in the U.S. alone, well over 100 million people report playing somewhat regularly on social casino apps.” These apps often advertise themselves to users as free to play, then entice them into spending real money, even though they can’t win any. And they’ve become a huge industry – estimated at nearly $6 billion in 2019. That’s almost as much as the real Las Vegas Strip.

Unlike casinos in the physical world, however, social casinos are treated as entertainment, not gambling, and regulated accordingly. That means even though, according to Whyte, they have an addiction rate five times higher than regular casinos, they lack the same oversight and protections against problem gambling. 

That leads to stories like the one we feature in our episode: a suburban grandmother in Dallas who got hooked into spending nearly everything she had on a social casino app called Big Fish Casino – ultimately spending more than $400,000. 

Hear the episode.
 

More from us ...

Last week, we brought you an update on our investigation into how Amazon treats its workers – during the COVID-19 pandemic and before. The original story by our reporter Will Evans looked into the death of 59-year-old Phillip Lee Terry at an Amazon warehouse in September 2017. We found that the state OSHA investigator in Indiana issued four citations against Amazon that were later dropped after the company appealed. 

After our story came out, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration examined the case and found Indiana was not justified in removing three of Amazon’s four citations. Indiana now has a chance to appeal.

Read our story here.
 

Some related news for Reveal: Our Amazon investigation has just been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. The honor celebrates Reveal’s staff for its “industrious reporting on worker injuries and the human toll of robotics technology at Amazon warehouses across the United States.” We’re honored by the recognition and grateful to all who have made this work possible, especially the many current and former Amazon workers who helped us secure injury logs for their facilities. We hope the accolade brings renewed attention to the dangers workers continue to face every day.

What we’re reading

Surreal scenes from a deserted city

A couple days after New York City started to shut down and brace itself for the outbreak, I saw an animation on Instagram of two lizards navigating our newly apocalyptic city. Now there are five short diaries that, more than anything I've seen, track the moods of life at the epicenter of crisis. – Ike Sriskandarajah, reporter/producer

How LAUSD handed out 13 million free meals in 6 weeks

Have you ever wondered how school districts are providing food relief at this time? Carla Javier and Chava Sanchez break down the steps of how more than 13 million free meals are handed out, from the moment essential workers prepare the orders to the moment families can pick them up at schools across Los Angeles. I live in L.A. and have been wondering about this for a while. It's definitely a must read and watch for local reporting. – David Rodriguez, community engagement specialist

Lockdown is forcing special needs parents to get creative

With schools closed, parents are facing all sorts of challenges in supporting learning for their children. Arionne Nettles writes about how she and other parents are getting creative as they find ways to supplement occupational, speech and physical therapy for children with autism and developmental delays. – Priska Neely, reporter/producer

Floodlines: The story of an unnatural disaster

The Atlantic released this podcast March 12, a week when the enormity of the public health and economic crisis was beginning to hit home for many Americans. Host Vann R. Newkirk II closely reexamines the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and what he finds has many resonances with what people across the U.S. are experiencing in the wake of COVID-19. – Matt Thompson, editor in chief
 

A message from the Dutch tulip fields …

Dutch tulip farmers usually “head” their flowers a bit later in May. This year, a few farms started the process a little early, to send a special affirmation to the world. – Travel + Leisure