Dear Friend,
This generation is growing up in a completely digital world. The internet is an inextricable part of how they learn, communicate, socialize and spend their free time.
This extremely online life has its advantages but also hides harms unknown for parents, guardians and teachers. As technology quickly develops, we can feel overwhelmed and powerless trying to protect young people from online traps.
CCDH research has exposed how social media platforms often fail to prevent kids and teens from facing harmful content:
- In September, we showed that TikTok is turning a blind eye to influencer videos that glorify and promote the sale of bodybuilding drugs such as steroids and steroid-like drugs. These substances are illegal for human consumption under US law, and have the potential to cause lifelong damage to teens.
- Last December, we set up accounts as 13-year-old girls to investigate TikTok’s algorithms. Within 2.6 minutes, the platform recommended suicide content. Within 8, it served teens harmful videos about eating disorders.
- TikTok is not the only platform that harms young people. In March this year, we explored Meta’s VR app, Horizon Worlds, and found minors being exposed to sexually explicit insults, racist comments, misogynistic and homophobic harassment.
The constant exposure to harmful material on social media affects more than young people’s mental health - it warps their understanding of the world around them. CCDH polled people in the US and found that teens were more likely to agree with conspiracy statements. These were some of our findings:
- 60% of teens agreed with at least 4 conspiracies
- 69% of teens with a high degree of social media use agreed with at least 4 conspiracies
What will the future look like in a society wrecked by unregulated social media companies? Their failures to stop the spread of hate, lies and conspiracies can have a huge impact on our children and our communities.
Governments and legislators must act now and regulate these platforms - they owe it to the next generations. You can write to your representative and demand policies to protect kids and teens online.
Friend, Giving Tuesday is around the corner. In this time of giving, consider supporting CCDH so we can continue to hold platforms accountable for the harms they cause. Together, we can ensure the internet is a safer place for everyone, especially to young people.
