By Abe James
On Jan. 31, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a full committee hearing targeting social media sites such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Discord, and Snapchat for not adequately protecting children online. The hearing featured CEOs, senators, and those affected by the online exploitation of children such as the families of Olivia Prodromidis, 15, and Matthew Minor, 12. Many other families spoke out about how the predatory nature of social media, both sexual and nonsexual, ended with their children dead. The increased concern over how the internet impacts children is also reflected in the numerous bills and laws proposed on the federal and state level to protect child safety such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), Platform Accountability and Transparency Act, and a law in Florida proposed to bar children younger than 16 from social media.
The standard age allowed for social media accounts is usually 13 or 14 years old. However, due to the susceptibility of children’s minds to exploitation due to the fact they are not yet mature, many have advocated for stricter control over social media and age restrictions.
One of these reasons is that social media is highly addictive to young minds. The American Psychology Association states that between the ages of 10 and 12, social rewards become more satisfying and elicit positive responses, due to the dopamine and oxytocin found in the ventral striatum multiplying more often when a positive response is given. As an adult, the increases in dopamine and oxytocin after being given a social reward are much less pronounced than those of a child. As a result, teens can become addicted to social media as they try to pursue more of the same responses. In fact, Meta has been sued for making Facebook and Instagram addictive in a way that harms children’s mental health.
Another issue that senators had was that social media could expose children to predatory behaviors. In a statement to CBS, the nonprofit organization National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that social media facilitated a majority of suspected child sexual exploitation. This is because child predators can create a persona that fulfills a child’s social rewards needs, thus getting the child to be less suspicious towards the predator. The FBI is also concerned about the exposure of children to pedophiles due to the widespread use and lack of control of social media.
Deepfake technology is also making predatory behavior much easier, as predators can easily create explicit deepfake images of children. Deepfake technology has been highly publicized in recent weeks due to the recent release of pornographic deepfakes of Taylor Swift. With little legislation surrounding artificial intelligence, this has become another compelling argument to senators who wish to tighten control on what children should be able to access on the internet.
However, there are concerns regarding the hearing and related bills such as KOSA. Some LGBTQ+ groups believe that KOSA’s broad language will allow for censorship of any mention of LGBTQ+ identities. Some comments left on the Congress hearing live stream broadcasted by the Washington Post also expressed criticism towards Congress and concerned parents; they shared the perspective that it should be the parent’s job to enforce boundaries on a child’s use of social media.
The larger connotations of this hearing will most likely prompt new legislation surrounding AI and deepfakes, as well as more child protective bills and laws involving social media. Overall, it seems this hearing will change how social media and AI can be utilized in the future, not just for children, but for the general public.
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