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THU, MAY 25, 2023

Should Government Restrict Teen Social Media Access?

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The U.S. Surgeon General this week warned that social media poses a profound risk of harm to teen mental health. It comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his presidential run live on social media. So should government restrict teen social media access like it’s done for alcohol and cigarettes? Jon Fortt is here to weigh in.

JON:

“No, government shouldn’t restrict social media use.

This is a parenting issue. The Surgeon General’s report this week was 19 pages, and it was important. Dr. Vivek Murthy laid out an evenhanded, data-driven case that social media brings both harms and benefits to teens.

At its core, the report is sobering. Today 19 out of 20 teenagers use a social media platform. Eighth and 10th graders spending about 3.5 hours a day on them. This means social media is becoming what TV was for our generation — a ubiquitous, questionable influence. But that doesn’t mean we should ban it.

Can you imagine if the Surgeon General were to put out a warning about TV? Well it happened, 50 years ago in the Nixon administration. Televised violence was the bugbear. Yet somehow, 50 years later, despite He-Man and Gi-Joe, and the Mandalorian and Stranger Things, we’ve survived.

I’m not saying violence in the media was a non-issue. I’m not saying we should ignore social media’s dangers for kids. But we’ve got to get out of this rut as a society where we panic and try to save people from themselves through rules and regulations, telling them what they should and shouldn’t watch. Whether it’s TV in the 70s, video games and rap in the 80s or social media today, the kids and parents can handle it.”

Maybe those warnings in the 70s and 80s weren’t wrong, though.

JON:

“On the other hand, government should require more stringent limits on teen social media use.

It’s a health issue. The Surgeon General this week cited a study showing that for college students, social media use was associated with an increase in depression and anxiety. Not only that, college students who limited social media use to 30 minutes a day? They felt less depressed.

I know it’s uncomfortable to legislate limits on social media use. But look, a lot of folks seem perfectly willing when the platform is TikTok, and they’re limiting China’s influence, like in Montana. It’s not a bad example. Even the critics of Montana’s TikTok ban mainly say, if you could show data — evidence that China is having this negative impact, maybe a ban would be OK. Well, the Surgeon General’s report compiles just that kind of evidence of probable harm. But not just from China and TikTok, from U.S. platforms, too.

I know there’s also an argument, these restrictions are the parent’s job, not the government’s. But most states have child labor laws limiting the work kids can do before they’re 16. We don’t leave that up to parents because we as a society don’t want kids exploited for financial gain — even if parents won’t step in. At its worst, that’s what social media does: sacrifice teen mental health for the attention economy. Limit it.”

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