The turning of the tide against social media

Opinion

Worldwide, momentum is growing against the traditional defence of tech billionaires that they provide neutral platforms, and that it is the responsibility of parents to police their children’s online habits.

A strong tide is now running against President Donald Trump following his misjudged attack on Iran.

A similar tide is now also turning against the ‘Big Tech’ billionaires who have so cynically supported Trump in pursuit of low taxes and equally low levels of regulation for their businesses.

For Trump, there have been the massive weekend No Kings demonstrations in every state of the Union by more than eight million people, a movement echoed in the UK by the 500,000-strong march in London against the influence of the far right.

For the tech billionaires, it is a turning point that combines growing actions by governments across the globe seeking to impose age limits on the use of social media and successful lawsuits by individuals claiming they have been mentally damaged by the addictive qualities of their social media algorithms.

It could all add up to a serious challenge to the financial models that underpin the platforms, resulting in an interesting case of collateral advantage for existing media organisations.

At the very least, there could be a levelling of the communications playing field for the media as platforms are finally held responsible for the content they transmit, with the possibility of both increased costs and declining revenue.

Precedent in the courts

The sharpest blows against the Tech giants came last week from juries in two American states.

In California, a plaintiff was awarded a total of $6m in damages against Meta and YouTube after being held responsible for her addiction to their platforms.

The money is peanuts for such companies that will almost certainly appeal against the ruling.

 But it will be used as a precedent for thousands of others planning to bring similar lawsuits.

John Banzhaf, professor of public interest law at George Washington University, believes that the impact of thousands of such lawsuits could be existential for Meta.

In a bad week for the organisation in New Mexico, Meta was also found guilty of violating state law by failing to protect users of its apps from child predators.

The New York Times concluded that the landmark decisions: “highlight a growing backlash against social media and its effects on young people, including criticism from parents and policy-makers around the globe that it is contributing to a mental health crisis.” 

The paper added that the push for change may now finally be gaining steam after years of unsuccessful efforts.

The moves are being seen as the modern equivalent of last century’s battle against ‘Big Tobacco’, although this time many more people could claim they have been adversely affected.

Doomscrolling and streaks

In the UK, a consultation closes in May that looks into public views on restricting children’s social media access to ensure “healthy online experiences.” 

The consultation is also looking at whether age restrictions should be introduced for access to social media.

But at the weekend, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave his strongest hint so far that action against the social media giants will indeed be taken in the UK.

Starmer suggested that “curbs” should be placed on activities such as doomscrolling and streaks, which encourage young people to return to the sites daily.

Confession. My streaks and the praise associated with them have contributed to a considerable degree of addiction to Duolingo Italian and chess.com, but the issue is clearly different for the under-16s.

The House of Lords has twice voted for the nuclear Australian option to ban under-16-year-olds from social media, but not so far the House of Commons.

Starmer is obviously waiting to consider the consultation results before deciding precisely what to do. But his commitment to doing something is now clear.

“This is the platforms trying to get children to stay on for longer, to get addicted. I can’t see there is a case for that, and therefore I can see we are going to have to act,” Starmer promised.

Technology companies are also facing increasing opposition to the impact of their excursions into the rapidly expanding world of AI.

A depressed 14-year-old boy was advised by a bot to take his own life, which he duly did.

Around the world, momentum is growing against the traditional defence of tech billionaires that they provide neutral platforms, and that it is primarily the responsibility of parents to monitor and police their children’s online activities.

Instead, the argument is changing, and both parents and governments are insisting that the platform must design safer systems or face legal and financial consequences.

The problem is that both legislation and litigation take time when the problems are immediate.

The actions of an Irish town

An interim solution has been found in the Irish town of Greystones, south of Dublin, as highlighted in the past few days, curiously once again by The New York Times.

In 2023, the town with 22,000 people embraced an “It takes a village” strategy to take collective action to curb the impact of smartphones and social media on their young people.

Parents, head teachers and community members got together to adopt a voluntary “no smartphones” code to protect younger children.

The biggest challenge was to “defang” the children’s argument that everybody has one.

The community action, one of the first to get going, began after the children returned to school at the end of the Covid lockdown. Teachers noticed tears at the school gates, children unable to sleep, or so upset by messages about them that they couldn’t concentrate in class.

The aim of the “ no smartphones code” in Greystones is seen as a stopgap to buy time and help ease children into the digital age, rather than drown in it.

Teachers and parents in the Irish town believe they have demonstrated they are not powerless, ironically in a country where most of the tech giants base their European headquarters.

While community action is part of the solution, Niamh Hodnett, Ireland’s online safety commissioner, told The New York Times: “Enforcement of online safety legislation to hold platforms to account will play an important role.”

An interesting week for the tech billionaires, and perhaps it would be wise if they notice that a tide is beginning to turn against them.

Raymond Snoddy is a media consultant, national newspaper columnist and former presenter of NewsWatch on BBC News. He writes for The Media Leader on Wednesdays — bookmark his column here.