Social Media Risks

Navigating the Risks: A Deep Dive into Social Media and Teen Safety

Unlock insights into the risks teens face on social media. Dive into the Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, revealing challenges in age verification, business models, and content moderation. Explore the impact on 49.8M YouTube users under 17 and $11B revenue from teens. Discover the need for legislation to protect children online and reshape social media design.
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In a gripping session before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham delivered a blunt message to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, proclaiming, “You have blood on your hands.” This, alongside Zuckerberg’s apology to the families of online child abuse victims, marked an unprecedented day of testimony. However, the most significant revelation came from Senator Graham, who declared social media platforms as “dangerous products” due to their current design and operation.
As researchers delving into how social media shapes news, information, and communities, we recognize the immense impact of these platforms on young users. The surge in mobile device use among children and teens during the pandemic has further amplified the stakes. With an estimated 49.8 million users under 17 on YouTube, 19 million on TikTok, and millions more on other platforms, teens have become a lucrative revenue source for social media companies, amounting to a staggering $11 billion in 2022.
Yet, the dark side of social media for teens extends beyond financial gains. It exposes them to harassment, bullying, sexual exploitation, and even contributes to issues like eating disorders and suicidal ideation. To address these concerns and safeguard children online effectively, we identify three critical factors: age verification, business models, and content moderation.
Age verification emerges as a significant challenge. Social media companies, driven by financial incentives, often turn a blind eye to the age of their users, especially those under 13—an “open secret” at Meta. While potential strategies like identification requirements or AI-based age guessing exist, their accuracy remains unscrutinized, hindering independent audits. Meta contends that age verification should occur in app stores, but this easily circumvented solution falls short of ensuring online safety for young users.
The role of teens in driving social media growth is evident, with platforms like Instagram relying on their adoption. However, the growth strategy, as revealed in the Facebook Files investigation, involves teens introducing family members, particularly younger siblings, to the platform. While Meta claims to prioritize meaningful social interaction, Instagram’s allowance of pseudonymity and multiple accounts complicates parental oversight.
The disturbing revelation from a former Facebook engineer, Auturo Bejar, underscores the severity of the issue. Testifying before Congress, Bejar highlighted the prevalence of sexual harassment among teen Instagram users, prompting Meta to impose restrictions on direct messaging for underage users. However, addressing the widespread issues of harassment, bullying, and solicitation requires more than just parental guidance and app store controls.
Meta’s recent announcement of aiming for “age-appropriate experiences” by prohibiting certain searches is a step forward, but it doesn’t address the thriving online communities promoting harmful behaviors. Human content moderation, essential for enforcing terms of service violations, faces challenges due to massive layoffs within the industry since 2022, affecting trust and safety operations.
While social media companies tout artificial intelligence for content moderation, it proves insufficient in managing human behavior. Communities adapt swiftly to AI, finding ways to bypass restrictions. The decline in human content moderation, exacerbated by industry-wide layoffs, necessitates hard data from companies to determine the optimal moderator-to-user ratio—a critical element missing in the current landscape.
To truly address the risks, social media companies must invest in human content moderation and robust age verification. However, the inherent dangers embedded in contemporary social media design demand clearer statutes regarding policing and intervention. Segmenting users by age would enhance child protection but conflicts with the revenue-driven motives of tech companies.
Congress holds limited tools to enact change but can enforce laws on advertising transparency, such as “know your customer” rules. As AI accelerates targeted marketing, it becomes crucial for advertisers to know the proportion of ads reaching children versus adults. Despite several hearings on social media harms, legislation protecting children and holding platforms liable for content remains elusive. With an increasing number of young people online post-pandemic, Congress must establish guardrails placing privacy and community safety at the forefront of social media design.

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