Last week Meta settled a course case against it. Normally in these types of cases against social media companies, they rely on Section 230. Essentially, this is a US Federal Law that prevents social media companies being held liable for content. Or social media companies hide behind free speech. However, this case was different. Rather than going after content, this case focused on the platform itself, making claims about the addictive qualities of the underlying technology.
I don’t think it’s any big secret that social media companies prey on keeping our attention. It’s not uncommon to hear smartphones, and social media, compared to gambling. In fact, there are many similarities. They capture our attention and then keep it, by design. They lure us in to keep playing, doom scrolling, viewing, clicking, and giving up hours of our attention. This is all baked in as part of the design.
The settlement of the recent case with Meta, focused on a younger audience. Rather than fight the case, again citing Section 230 and free speech, Meta agreed to settle. They also agreed to implement a number of guard rails and controls to prevent teens and younger kids from getting sucked in. Some of the proposed controls include time limits, notifications shut off during school hours and between midnight to 6am, ending continuous scrolling and autoplays, and options to opt out of algorithmic-tailored feeds.
While this all sounds like a good start, in theory, Meta proposed all of the measures. Based on what I understand, there are no studies or evidence to support that these controls are the most effective, even if they sound convincing. Maybe we’re overlooking something even more beneficial behind Meta’s shield of benevolence. It would be a good idea to have some independent third-parties make recommendations about the controls.
I would also like to point out that limiting kids on devices is only part of the solution. The other part would be to provide them with some non-social media and non-personal device options. For example, when I was growing up, we had landlines, pay phones, and at some point, pagers. All of which provided us with ways to communicate with friends, family, and relatives. Without personal devices, how would today’s youth be able to communicate with others, unless they start borrowing somebody else’s.