Major report declines to recommend banning social media for youth

A committee of experts declined to recommend banning social media for youth 18 and younger in a report issued Wednesday.

Convened by the nonprofit National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the committee reviewed numerous studies on the topic of youth health and social media use and found that most of the research shows only an association between a range of online behaviors and different physical and mental health outcomes.

In the absence of research demonstrating a compelling cause-and-effect relationship, the committee recommended further research as well as the creation of strong industry standards for social media platform design, transparency, and data use.

Earlier this year, Congress heard testimony from parents who supported bipartisan legislation banning social media for youth younger than 13, in addition to a requirement that older minors receive permission from their parents before opening a social media account. There have been separate attempts in the U.S. to ban TikTok, typically for cybersecurity reasons.

The committee, comprising 11 experts with backgrounds in computer science, psychology, public health, social connection, and other related topics, called for a more measured approach.

"While some users, using social media in particular ways, may have their mental health adversely affected, for many others there will be no such harm, and for others still the experience will be helpful," the committee members wrote in a comprehensive report. "This suggested to the committee a judicious approach to protect youth mental health is warranted [rather] than some of the more broad-stroke bans that have been proposed by other entities in recent years."

Even without convincing proof that social media use broadly causes changes to youth mental health, the report detailed the ways in which young users could be negatively affected by time spent on platforms.

That included platforms' ability to encourage "unhealthy social comparisons," which may be a risk factor for eating disorders, and displacing the time youth may otherwise dedicate to sleep, studying, exercise, and hobbies.

The report authors also noted that social media platforms have a "distracting power" that can conflict with adolescents developing attention-related skills that boost their concentration, academic success, and emotion regulation.

They were concerned, too, by the finding that social media use among LGBTQ+ teens is associated with an increased risk of bullying, and that online gamers can sometimes develop "dysfunctional behavior" related to gaming, particularly when that activity trumps all of their other interests and obligations.

Amid these known potential pitfalls, the authors wrote that social media platforms can have positive benefits for youth, like fulfilling their need for independence, helping them make meaningful connections with others, and providing ways to explore their identity.

Indeed, a Pew Research Center survey of teens this fall found that they continue to use social media at the same heavy rates as in years past, indicating that the upsides may outweigh fears about the possible harms of continuous or near constant use.

In order to "maximize" these benefits, the committee recommended creating a set of industry standards for social media operations and platform design that prioritizes transparency and enables tracking by the public and the Federal Trade Commission.

Other recommendations included improved protection from harassment, cyberbullying, and sexual exploitation; implementing media literacy curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12, with related teacher training; and increased access to vital data currently held tightly by social media companies so that researchers can conduct more rigorous studies of how social media use may affect youth.

President of the National Academy of Medicine, Victor J. Dzau, who didn't serve on the committee, said in a press release that parents, doctors, teachers, and adolescents have long wanted this clarity.

"Now is the time for research to help answer this pressing question and inform ongoing public policy debates about social media," Dzau said.