Once again, TikTok bears the face of the latest social media controversy.
A bipartisan group of 14 states across the United States took their issues with TikTok to the next level by filing lawsuits against the social media giant for harming young s’ mental health.
Since the dawn of cell phones, our relationship with social media has grown unimaginably inseparable. Kids today are especially prone to dangerously unhealthy social media consumption habits, unlike most generations before them.
These lawsuits against TikTok bring forth issues with the platform like its endlessly scrolling feed, “challenge” videos that promote a model of replication from viewers, and frequent and disruptive notifications. If these elements sound familiar, it’s because they’re not exclusive to TikTok—they’re present in most, if not, all social media platforms.
As with any addictive substance, social media apps don’t work in isolation. While the platform’s design gives rise to trending, often inappropriate content and problematic influence, it’s our culture that ultimately brings them to life.
Channelling the brunt of the negative attention onto TikTok makes us blind to several other factors contributing to children’s unhealthy relationship with social media. Namely, those enabling the usage of these platforms in the first place. It’s seldom talked about how parents and adults aren’t held able for introducing devices to their kids.
Companies can’t be the only ones to blame for getting youth addicted when a clear lack of parental interference in their kids’ social media use allows it to breed into uncontrolled habits. ittedly, it’s difficult for parents to discipline kids’ activity on apps like TikTok when they never experienced growing up with it firsthand. However, if adults are so concerned, they must do their part in teaching kids about the harms of social media or else no one else will.
With proper digital literacy, social media shouldn’t be handled any differently than alcohol, drugs, or risky behaviour. But even things under regulation can be misused and abused.
This isn’t to negate the allegations about TikTok. It says a lot when TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew doesn’t allow his kids, under 13, on the app. Despite their spokesperson’s claims that the platform is safe for children, we know its interests will always lie with profiting from heightened engagement. No amount of “optional parental oversight” tools can undo the damage years of scrolling has inflicted on children’s capacity for judgment and analytical thinking.
The point of applying legal pressure on social media companies is to sign stricter regulations into law. From an organizational perspective, there needs to be explicit in-app features that bar children from ing without parental approval, and more serious warnings er rights and responsibilities.
We should beware not to put the onus of responsibility and prevention on these companies and consider addiction—and regulation—related problems solved. So long as social media exists, adults and kids must work together to respond to our climate of changing trends.
The dangers of social media span far beyond the TikTok app and that’s the scariest issue.
—Journal Editorial Board
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