Should ‘addictive’ social media be regulated? Here’s what an addiction specialist thinks about tech policy.

Social media spread so rapidly that it became ubiquitous before anyone really knew how to deal with it — and critics say that’s in part due to “addictive” algorithms and feeds that can do more harm than good. As numerous states move to restrict social media access for kids and teens, Dr. Anna Lembke, medical director of addiction medicine at Stanford University, explains how constant connection can be harmful and why governments, companies and families should consider policies that promote unplugging.

Video Transcript

We need to think about the addictive potential of digital media, social media, the products are engineered to be addictive.

Uh whether it's the A I algorithms or it's the notifications or quantifications for the endless scroll.

All of these things make it more and more difficult for us to exercise our agency to disengage at the point at which it would be healthy to do so, especially Children and teens whose brains are not yet fully developed.

And so yes, the corporations that have created a product that is profitable because it's addictive, have an obligation especially vis a vis minors to make sure that they are not being harmed.

And even if the majority of individuals who use digital media and social media will be able to moderate their use and, and sort of self correct.

If we have a subset of individuals who is vulnerable to the addictive potential, we need to create guardrails at all levels at the level of government, corporations, individuals, schools, communities, um so that people can enjoy positive aspects of the technology without being hard by the technology.