Metaddiction, seek safety from within

The lawsuit by 33 US states against Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, for allegedly harming mental health of adolescents could, if won, lead to policy action to make social media safe for children and improve privacy protection. Public funding also needs to be directed at digital literacy and additional research into the impact of social media. Technology companies could be asked to be more transparent with internal assessment of the effects their platforms have on consumers and design products prioritising public health. Eventually, industry standards will have to be implemented for practices that do not harm children's mental health. Judicial recourse is among a 'whole of society' response to improving health outcomes that involves government, tech companies, academia and parents.

Will it work? Only if the response time does not stretch unduly. Research is key to understanding the issue. It is limited by access to proprietary information held by tech companies. Governments can't move unilaterally unless the courts establish liability despite warnings by health advisers, who themselves bemoan the lack of research. Parents on their own can't restrict screen time for their children without facing revolt - unless they're in China where the state has imposed smartphone use time limits for minors. The good news is the effects of social media on children's health has become a matter of public concern in a country most exposed to it, with nearly ubiquitous use by adolescents. Solutions emerging from the US will guide response by other nations.

They need not wait, though. Governments everywhere have a wide array of policy options to discourage consumption of demerit goods, from statutory warnings to advertising bans to punitive taxes. These would, however, be the wrong response to what is essentially freedom of expression. Public health concerns should be addressed through improved content curation by companies, not through external controls such as denial of exposure.