These Digital Natives are taking on Big Tech (ft. Emma Lembke and Zamaan Qureshi)
I sat down with fellow Digital Natives and co-chairs of Design It For Us to discuss the current state of social media legislation regarding kids and teens.
The “I quit social media” YouTube videos have become a classic, and their upload frequency continues to rise. Still, viewers who wish they could get themselves to try the same… simply re-open the next app in their cycle. And still… the people who made these videos in the first place, just re-download all the apps.
While this happens because there are undeniable benefits of social media, this dynamic is a sign of a severe problem. Especially for the first generations to truly grow up with these platforms.
[Bernie Sanders clip] “Our kids have become less connected, humanly, to each other. And this is kind of a new phenomenon.”
[Surgeon General clip] “Research shows 95% of teens are on social media. More than ⅓ say they’re on constantly”
[Jean Twange clip] “2012 happens to be the first year the majority of Americans owned a smartphone. It’s also around the time that social media use moved from relatively optional to virtually mandatory among teens”
[Kid clip] “In fifth grade, literally, every single one of my classmates had a phone at that time”
[Emma Chamberlain clip] “Why is mental health declining across the board? Why are we unhealthy in a way that we weren’t before, or in different ways? What is going on?”
[Jonathan Haidt clip] “This is not an across the board increase in all kinds of mental health problems, it’s specific to anxiety and depression, and the behaviors that go along with them”
[Blumenthal clip] “The suicide rate for young people has begun to skyrocket. The suicide rate for 10 to 14 year olds has doubled, for young girls, it has quadrupled.”
[Jean Twange clip] “They started spending more time online, less time sleeping, less time with friends face to face – that is a horrible formula for mental health.”
[Sinead Bovell clip] “I think once all the data comes back, we’re going to really view this last decade as the dopamine generation. The way we view our parents decade as the nicotine generation.”
[Emma Chamberlain clip] “I don’t know if there’s a way to be on social media without getting addicted. I’ve personally been working on it for over a year and I cannot figure it out”
[Surgeon General clip] “We’re living in the middle of a youth mental health crisis in America, and I’ve said it before, this is a defining issue of our time.”
[Kid clip] “Social media is its own world”
For the past 25 years, there have been no federal laws regarding the relationship between kids, teens and social media. The last time one passed was in 1998 – which was before the birth of today’s most popular platforms.
That law is actually the reason most companies have 13 years old as the age that a user can create an account for themselves — because for those under the age of 13, the law requires parental consent before websites can collect personal information. Though, we know that’s easy to get around and that companies have also created kids versions of these platforms.
But there’s been a dramatic shift in the landscape this year — with at least 10 federal bills proposed, while 35 states have pending legislation and 11 states have already passed bills. It’s fascinating, and we’ll catch you up on what those are later – because some are great, and some are not. While it’s important for this topic to gain steam, it’s also important to note:
[Taylor Lorenz clip - High Low with Em Rata] “We need younger people that actually understand how these platforms can be weaponized to write laws about the internet. I do think that the only thing worse than no laws is bad laws because legislation can really end up being used for nefarious purposes. It can be used to target and punish the very people that are sort of the victims of these systems. But I think we need a lot more regulation around online safety and I think ultimately we need more user control over our own experiences of these platforms”
To understand the nuances of why social media legislation is important, I sat down with two other Digital Natives who are holding tech companies accountable.
Jules: “Would love for you to introduce yourself and what work you’re focused on right now.”
Zamaan: “My name is Zamaan Qureshi. I co-chair the Design It For Us coalition and I work on policy for the Real Facebook Oversight Board.”
[Zamaan Clip - Unfinished Live] “Tech moves a million miles a minute and Congress does not. And we, as digital citizens deserve the rights that we ask for online — and that includes privacy, accountability, and power as users.”
Zamaan: “I’m just really interested in finding ways to reign in Big Tech’s power, protect kids and teens online, and make online platforms safer.”
[Zamaan Clip - MSNBC] “Young people aren’t going away from these platforms, so we need to build these platforms and regulate these platforms to be better. Because there is a social price to leaving these platforms – people can be ostracized as Frances Haugen said, for leaving Instagram.”
Emma: “My name is Emma Lembke. I am the founder and Executive Director of the Log Off Movement, the co-chair of Design It For Us and that coalition.”
[Emma Clip - Hearing] “Social media is not all bad. Members of my generation understand it to be a multifaceted entity. One where we can connect with each other, we can explore our identities, and we can express ourselves on a new dimension.”
Emma: “And I’m currently focused on the intersection between wellbeing, youth engagement, and technology, and specifically looking at how technology can be used to amplify our humanity while not corroding it."
[Emma Clip - Fox] “No matter the age, no matter how old the user is — they’re going to try to maximize that attention to maximize profit. When in reality what it’s causing, is this fueling of the youth mental health crisis that we face today.”