With 95% of teens reporting use of a social media platform, legislators have taken steps to curb excessive use. With increasing digitalization and reliance on existing and emerging technologies, youth are quick to adopt modern technologies and trends that can lead to excessive use, especially with the proliferation of mobile phones. The increasing use of social media and other related platforms--most recently, generative AI--among minors has even caught the attention of the U.S. surgeon general, who released a health advisory about its effects on their mental health. Alongside increasing calls to action, big tech companies have introduced a multitude of parental supervision tools. While considered proactive, many of the same opponents of social media use have sparked doubts over the efficacy of these tools, and a range of federal and state policies have emerged, which may or may not align with the goals of protecting minors when using social media.
Authors
- Acknowledgements and disclosures
- Google, Meta, and Microsoft are general, unrestricted donors to the Brookings Institution. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions posted in this piece are solely those of the authors and are not influenced by any donation.The authors thank Mark MacCarthy, Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings, for his constructive feedback.
- Published in
- United States of America
