A new bill, introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cynthia Lummis, is aimed at understanding and mitigating social media addiction.
Social media addiction has been a known problem for some time. In recent years, however, the full scope of the problem has become more widely known, including the lengths platforms have gone to in an effort to keep people engaged.
For many, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the revelations whistle-blower Frances Haugen made regarding the harm social media platforms cause to young people. As a result, according to Reuters , the Senators’ bill would authorize the National Science Foundation and National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study what steps Facebook and other platforms could take to minimize addiction. Once the problem is better understood, the FTC would implement rules to better govern social media.
“For too long, tech companies have said ‘Trust us, we’ve got this.’ But we know that social media platforms have repeatedly put profits over people, with algorithms pushing dangerous content that hooks users and spreads misinformation. This bill will help address these practices,” said Klobuchar.