The authors of a new, three-paper series published in The Lancet say it’s time for a major perspective shift that moves beyond fixating on youth screen time, to regulating big tech’s business models and addicting design features, which monetize ever more of people’s data, time and attention at the cost of their well-being.
asserted
which → publish → being
“Time on screen, social comparison through social media, online bullying – these things are having a major impact on experiences of depression and anxiety, particularly for young people,” said study co-author Jay Shaw, an associate professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
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Shaw → have → Health
The series looked at 121 published reviews involving nine million people under-25 and found associations between addiction-like patterns of digital media use and various harms, including sleep disruption through key phases of neurobiological development, as well as decreased physical activity.
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series → look → development
Even as social-media platforms are deliberately designed to be addictive, to make people put off sleep and get them riled up, anxious and angry so they keep scrolling, screen time is often still portrayed as a personal lack of self-control, or as parental failure.
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time → design → failure
It’s a position that lets big tech off the hook, Dr. Shaw said.
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Shaw → ’ → hook
“In some ways, we’re battling our own assumptions when it comes to thinking critically about how we engage with digital technology.
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we → battle → technology
We think to ourselves, ‘I shouldn’t have stayed up that extra hour last night doomscrolling.’
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I → think → ourselves
But the digital environment is set up to make that impossible,” Dr. Shaw said.
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Shaw → set → ?
“Big technology companies are mobilizing a corporate defence playbook that was popularized by big tobacco, but has been used by other health harming industries facing regulation over the past few decades, where keeping attention on individual willpower prevents stronger regulation.”
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keeping → mobilize → regulation
Working across numerous disciplines at universities in 10 countries, the 13 co-authors are pushing for robust, international regulation of big tech business models and the design features built to pull people in, from infinite scroll and autoplay to personalized recommendation feeds.
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authors → work → feeds
The experts said one-off measures such as age limits aren’t enough.
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measures → say → limits
They’re calling for safety standards for platform design, control over how personal data are collected and used, and independent oversight and accountability.
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data → call → design
They want to see governments force tech giants to first, assess products for risk before launching them, and second, to release internal data on how features affect users’ health – with that intel then scrutinized by independent experts.
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intel → want → experts
The authors are also pushing for a dedicated international body to monitor AI harms to youth.
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authors → push → youth
Dr. Shaw sees promise in Bill C-34, Canada’s Safe Social Media Act, a proposed federal law focused on making online platforms safer for youth and holding tech companies accountable.
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companies → see → youth
In particular, Dr. Shaw appreciates the push to establish a regulator capable of preventing youth from accessing a platform until a tech firm can show it’s safe.
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it → appreciate → platform
“This logic of incentivizing platforms to demonstrate their safety has been absent from past efforts to ban young people from social media,” Dr. Shaw said.
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Shaw → incentivize → media
The Lancet papers reflect a broader shift to thinking about safety by design, said Kaitlynn Mendes, a sociology professor at Western University and project lead at DIY: Digital Safety, who was not involved in the current research.
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who → reflect → research
“It’s crazy that we let tech companies release products that haven’t been proven to be safe by design.
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that → ’ → design
We don’t accept that with any other products on the market.
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We → accept → market
You think about food, automobiles, other tech and gadgets where we’ve set standards and regulations.”
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we → think → standards
Beyond Canada, Dr. Mendes pointed to laws already enacted in the U.K. and European Union, as well as Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an independent government regulator dedicated to online safety.
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Mendes → point → safety
“We’re crazy if we expect tech companies to voluntarily make changes that will impact their bottom line,” Dr. Mendes said.
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Mendes → ’re → line
“There need to be third-party mediators, a place for the public to bring complaints that also sets standards and imposes fines.
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that → need → fines
In the U.K., Ofcom forces tech companies to produce transparency reports every year.
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Ofcom → force → reports
They make companies publish how many cases of child sexual abuse material, luring and underage accounts there are on the platform.
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cases → make → platform
That can be an incredibly effective mechanism for forcing companies to make changes.”
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That → force → changes
The Lancet papers also illustrate an evolving approach to age restrictions, according to Candice Odgers, co-director of the Child and Brain Development Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
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papers → illustrate → Research
She was not involved in the Lancet papers.
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She → involve → papers
“Adults really have broken the internet in some pretty brutal ways, and their solution has been to kick kids off to ‘fix it.’
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solution → break → it
That is not going to fix the broken internet, broken design choices and broken business models.
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That → go → internet
It’s going to do absolutely nothing to help our young people because the bans don’t work, and the blame certainly doesn’t work,” said Dr. Odgers, a chancellor’s professor of psychology and informatics at the University of California, Irvine.
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Odgers → go → California
Even as she acknowledges online harassment and exploitation, Dr. Odgers believes the science remains unsettled on screen time causing mental health problems and rewiring people’s brains.
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time → acknowledge → brains
Even so, she stands behind regulating tech companies, not only to protect children and teens, but also vulnerable adults.
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she → stand → children
“There should be safety by design principles in place for all users, as well as the protection of data and privacy, and control over preferences for scrolling and advertising exposure,” Dr. Odgers said.
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Odgers → say → scrolling
The Lancet papers acknowledge that digital media can boost young people’s quality of life, pointing to social connection, access to information, telemedicine and job opportunities.
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media → acknowledge → information
Like the Lancet authors, Dr. Odgers wants to see a healthier online world that amplifies the good on these platforms.
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that → want → platforms
“Adults often view this as something that can be switched on or off, and it’s not like that.
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it → view → that
It’s more like a circulatory system,” she said.
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she → ’ → system
“Digital technology runs all through our society, our relationships, for better or for worse.
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technology → run → worse
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
