Social media addiction generally, and more so in children, has been a growing issue, and in California, a Bill is before the state legislature to allow parents and guardians to sue social media platforms for addiction in their children. We briefly discuss the Bill, and how social media addiction seems to be viewed in the Caribbean region.

 

Earlier this week, it was reported that in the state of California, in the United States (US), a Bill was passed in the Lower House of that state’s legislature that would allow parents and guardians to sue social media platforms for up to USD 25,000 per violation for causing harm to children who become addicted to their products. The Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act still needs to be passed by the Upper House, or Senate, before in can be signed into law by the State Governor.

The Act focuses on children under 18 “…who are both harmed — either physically, mentally, emotionally, developmentally or materially — and who want to stop or reduce how much time they spend on social media but they can’t because they are preoccupied or obsessed with it” (Source: Associated Press). However, and to be able to sue, the social media platform must have generated at least USD 100 million in gross revenue in the past year, which would include platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Additionally, the Act does not cover video streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, or even YouTube, or those that provide email or text messaging services, such as WhatsApp.

Currently, and as expected, there is strong opposition to the Bill, especially from the tech industry. In a nutshell, the industry is arguing that the legal risk to companies may result in them ceasing their operations for children in California (Source: Associated Press).

Although the debate on this Bill will continue in the California State Legislature, it is reportedly the first of its kind in the US. Nevertheless, it has been highlighting the growing concern about social media addiction in children, and the need for stronger protection and controls.

 

Social media then and now

To a considerable degree, the initial premise for social networks 20 years ago, was to help us connect and share parts of our lives with family and friends. However, in 2021, the industry had over 3.8 billion users, and an advertising spend of USD 181 billion (Source:  Statista). In essence, social media is big business, and its greatest commodity is its users, who not only generate the majority of the content, but also consume it.

More importantly, the largest and most lucrative revenue stream for social media platform is advertising. However, and to do so well, requires users to stay on the platform for as long as possible, and to return frequently. This is where social media algorithms come in, as it determines what content individual users see, which to varying degrees would be based on factors including:

  • User demographic information, gender, age, interests
  • User preferences, drawn from viewing behaviour, previously liked and/or shared posts and searches
  • Geographic location, to highlight location-specific news and other content
  • Controversial viewpoints.

Thanks to the algorithms, it may mean that following passing interest in a particular topic, your feed gets inundated with content on that topic and those adjacent to it, which can draw you down a rabbit hole you had not intended to pursue. Nevertheless, it has resulted in social media users globally spending almost two and a half hours per day on those platforms!

The video below, produced by Big Think, explains in less than five minutes, how addiction occurs generally. It is likely that those same principles are also evident in children, but are more pronounced, especially since they may not possess the capacity realise what is happening to them, and correspondingly how to address it.

 

Social media addiction in the Caribbean

Suffice it to say, here in the Caribbean region and among the populace, it still appears that social media use by children, and correspondingly, social addiction generally, and in children, are not yet a concern. However, Caribbean-based psychiatrists and psychologists have been reporting increased instances of social media and gaming addiction, in particular. In one of our 2019 podcast episodes, Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr Rodney Stewart, expressed concern about the upsurge he had been witnessing in digital addiction.

However, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dr Christine Descartes, a lecturer in psychology in the Department of Behavioural Sciences, at the University of the West Indies (St Augustine), was of the view that children and young adults are turning to smartphone addiction to try to cope with the pandemic; and so mental health challenges is also a consequence of the pandemic:

“What we see is a yo-yo effect because for a few weeks we see the relaxing of Covid-19 measures, then another few weeks we are back in, so the yo-yo effect has been hard on our very young people. These measures have affected our youth tremendously. Children now have to resort to coping and they are on social media 24/7…”

Trinidad Express Newspapers

To be fair, and across the major newspapers in the region, there have been a few articles on social media or digital addiction. However, much of the content tends to be based on expert views and opinions, or on information from developed countries. As a result, we may not yet appreciate the gravity of the situation, and may only begin to do so, when local or regional reports start to emerge in which social media addiction has been identified as the main driver of an unfortunate incident.

Finally, and reverting to the Bill, if it is passed, social media platforms could cease their operations for children located in California; but it means that children elsewhere will remain vulnerable to the machinations of social media to generate revenue. However, as parents, guardians, or someone who has some connection to children, and in light of the posture being advocated in California, how comfortable are you with children’s exposure to social media? And, do you think parents and guardians should have the right to sue the platform for social media addiction in children?

 

 

Image credit:  cottonbro (Pexels)