The effects of social media use on young people has been back in the headlines because of a recent Senate hearing. Part of our job as those who work with youth is to understand how surrounding cultural forces may be affecting them, but life is BUSY, so here’s a quick summary of what you need to know.
What was the hearing about, and who was involved?
On Wednesday January 31, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing about protecting children online, particularly in social media spaces. The primary focus was on legislation around child sexual exploitation, however testimony about other issues such as mental health and suicide, eating disorders, and the addictive nature of the platforms themselves was covered. Present at the hearing were the CEOs of X Corp. (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Snap (which includes Snapchat), Meta (which includes Facebook and Instagram), and Discord.
You can watch the full four hour hearing and download the testimonies on the Judiciary Committee website. Information in this post was pulled from several sources, including these stories from AP News, CNN, and others linked throughout.
How did youth and their families participate in the hearing?
While this hearing didn’t have direct testimony from youth or their families, they still played a role. As the hearing began and executives and lawmakers filed into the room, parents who have lost children to suicide after harmful online interactions held up photos of their kids. A video played at the start that featured people telling their stories of how they or their families were harmed on social media, and a group of youth advocates also attended, many of whom spoke to news outlets afterwards. Throughout the questioning, audience members also applauded tough questions and laughed and hissed at CEO responses they didn’t feel were adequate.
What came up in the conversation?
Senators on both sides of the aisle were united in strong condemnation of current social media practices, with many sharing stories from their constituents about youth who have been blackmailed over explicit photos, bullied, and whose algorithms consistently surfaced harmful content. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN) at one point confronted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about internal documents showing that the company estimates the lifetime value of a teen user at $270. Zuckerberg in particular experienced some of the toughest criticism, including that he ignored calls by his employees to invest more heavily in user mental health, instead cutting funding to those teams. Sen. Lindsay Graham (SC) told CEOs that they “have blood their hands,” and called for a repeal of the federal law that immunizes websites and social media platforms for their content moderation decisions and from lawsuits arising from user-generated content.
What comes next?
Several of the companies featured in the hearing have announced new or strengthened policies, or called for federal legislation, though with limits. Zuckerberg for example said that user age verification should take place, though that burden should be on app store operators and not the social media platforms themselves. Snapchat plans to add features to their parental oversight tools, and TikTok is investing $2 billion worldwide in trust and safety in the coming year.
Lawmakers criticized companies for “conveniently” rolling out new features in the week of the hearing, and expressed desire for federal legislation, however it is unclear is any will actually be passed. One new bipartisan bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, is currently endorsed by Snap but opposed by the other social media companies. At this stage, most of the legal action has occurred either in the courts through lawsuits or in state legislation. To learn about state laws that have been recently passed or attempted, such as age verification, parental consent requirements, and banning certain platforms altogether, check out this table from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
What should we be doing in youth development programs?
Conversations about social media can be rich ways to engage with teens and tweens. Consider:
- Watch for warning signs that youth are being sexually exploited online, and educate members about online safety. This post from BGCA’s Child Safety team gives in-depth information and other ways to keep youth safe online.
- Talk with teens and tweens about how they use social media, and how it makes them feel. Allow them to share without interjecting your own judgment. For the past two years, the Keystone Conference Steering Committee has specifically brought up how social media affects their mental health, so we know it is a hot topic.
- According to Pew Research, about a third of teens say they spend too much time on social media, and over half say it would be at least somewhat hard to give up. Ask youth what their motivations for being on social media are, and how they could meet those needs in other places, or through more limited social media time.
- Work with youth to brainstorm ideas for self-control, including putting time limits on apps they use most, or other activities to do if they feel themselves tempted to scroll.
- Also worth conversation is the specific types of content they consume. For example, we know some content can lead to feelings of shame or negative body-image, and others to dangerous radicalization or violence.
Learn more in these ClubX Blog posts:
How do you teach teens and tweens to be safe online? What effects of social media have they shared with staff? Comment below, on the BGCA Youth Development Facebook page, or email ClubXBlog@bgca.org.
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