Georgia has joined an effort to “protect kids who are using social media, specifically Facebook and Instagram, while looking out for their mental health.” Late last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced that Georgia has joined a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general from states and territories who sent a strong letter of support for the hearings being conducted by a U.S. Senate on the issues of social media use by kids and teens.
“As enforcers of our jurisdictions’ consumer protection laws, we find it deeply troubling that Facebook and other social media platforms seek to increase user engagement by conscripting our nation’s youth despite known harms to children and adolescents,” the letter said, expressing their concerns over the impacts of social media on youth. These concerns, they say, have grown with the recent research from Facebook’s own internal studies showing that social media is inflicting harm—in the form of increased mental distress, bullying, suicide, and other self-harm—on a significant number of kids.
“Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that Facebook is doing all of this knowing its own internal studies show the resulting harm…with a particularly negative impact on young girls. And Facebook is not alone,” the letter states.
The letter points to an article by the Wall Street Journal that described how TikTok allows its algorithms to direct young users to pornographic websites depicting violence against women. “We are already on record calling for Facebook to stop (not suspend) its plans to establish an Instagram platform for young children. The WSJ reports only substantiate that position and frankly, call for further efforts.”
Carr said attorneys general believe the current and future well-being of the nation’s youth is at stake.
“Available information indicates that the platforms’ algorithms are having real world consequences on children’s health, and that social media companies are continuing to utilize algorithms to maximize the time that children spend on the platforms, without regard to their well-being,” said Carr. “If true, this is unacceptable and we will not hesitate to protect the children of Georgia from these practices.”
The letter, Carr says, recognizes the hearings will uncover critical information about the business practices that social media companies are using to gain the attention of more young people on their platforms.
The attorneys general write that “More engagement by the user equals more data to leverage for advertising, which equals greater profit. This prompts social media companies to design their algorithms and other features to psychologically manipulate young users into a state of addiction to their cell phone screens.”
