230+ Peer-Reviewed Studies Document Mental Health Downsides
Internet technology downsides are often discounted or denied by technology companies, academics and media companies.
This site lists peer-reviewed studies, scholarly reviews/books, and articles that use journalistic standards to document the negative effects of social media use. Policy Reforms are also discussed.
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 & Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 & Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 & Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)
- Don’t let another family suffer a tragic death or injury. Contact your elected officials now and ask them to support the Kids Online Safety Act of 2023. Fairplay has made it easy to contact your elected representatives here.
- Need more info about KOSA, but want it in a podcast? Joni Siani has done the hard work for you. Check out:
- No App for Life with Joni Siani S2E1, Accountable, with Laura Marquez Garrett, Social Media Victims Law Center, Discussing why the Kids Online Safety Act of 2023, provides safeguards for LGBTQ+ Kids and Teens Part 1 of 3 here, Part 2 of 3 here.
- No App for Life with Joni Siani S2E3, Accountable, with Members, Online Harms Prevention Work Group, Screen Time Action Network, Joann Bogard and Kristin Bride, Part 3 of 3.
- Project Liberty Action Network (2023, August 30) Survivor Families Need Your Voice to Pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), featuring Screen Time Action Network members.
- 2023 KOSA incorporates changes requested by various privacy and LGBTQAI+ advocacy groups. Significant changes and a comparison of the bills can be found here.
- The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) empowers kids and parents to take control over kids’ online experiences to better protect their health and well-being. This is accomplished through the creation of a legal duty to protect minors' online activities from harmful online interactions; and protect them from content that promotes: suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and illegal/violent activities, mandates public interest research and requires annual risk audits. This bill also addresses algorithmic recommendation systems.
- Per SEN Markey the updated COPPA 2.0 would:
- Prohibit internet companies from collecting personal information from users under age 16 without the user’s consent.
- Revise COPPA’s “actual knowledge” standard, covering platforms that are “reasonably likely to be used” by children and protecting users who are “reasonably likely to be” children or minors;
- Establish a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” that limits the collection of personal information of teens
- Ban targeted advertising directed at children (as opposed to contextual advertising, for example, directing advertisements to a user based upon the content of a visited website).
- Create an “Eraser Button” for parents and kids by requiring companies to permit users to eliminate personal information from a child or teen when technologically feasible;
- Establish a Youth Marketing and Privacy Division at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Read More at Medium.com
Tell Our Elected Representatives We Want Youth Online Protections Now
Simple Strategies to Reduce Tween & Teen's Smartphone Use
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 & Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)
Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) of 2023 & Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)
- Dr. Jean Twenge, a research psychologist and author of the books, iGen and Generations, has been studying generational differences for decades and was one of the first researchers to raise the alarm regarding the rise of smartphone and social media use and teen depression world-wide. In an interview on The Ezra Klein Show, Dr. Twenge made these recommendations for reducing smartphone use:
- No phones in the bedroom overnight. Invest in alarms clocks to wake up in the morning.
- Buy an internet-free cell phone. Delay getting teens a smartphone for as long as possible. Two Bonus ideas from other sources: get your child a smart watch designed specifically for kids; Connect with other parents through the Wait Until 8th program.
- Delay social media use for as long as possible.
- Ask your school to prohibit student use of smartphones during school hours. Dr. Jonathan Haidt presents some great ideas in this article in The Atlantic.
- Request schools and after-school activity coordinators not to use social media platforms for school announcements (including extra curricular activities), teacher homework assignments, etc.
Online is "Real Life."
Read More at Medium.com
More Social Media Harms Information
London, England, Coroner Finds Social Media "Contributed More than Minimally" to Teen's Death
Read More at BBC.com
- Molly Rose Russell, 14 years old, died by suicide in November 2017. In the last six months of her life, Molly was depressed. She extensively used Pinterest and Instagram during that period.
- On September 30, 2022, north London Coroner, Andrew Walker, publicly released findings from the inquest into Molly's death. He concluded that Molly died from an act of self-harm while suffering depression and the negative effects of online content.
- Walker stated that images of self-harm and suicide she viewed "shouldn't have been available for a child to see".
- Walker concluded that Pinterest and Instagram used algorithms that encouraged "binge periods" of viewing harmful content that Molly did not request to see.
- For more information or to find out how you can help, contact the Molly Rose Foundation or the Screentime Action Network
Now is the Time to Enact Social Media Regulation
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