The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), with support from Senator Elizabeth Warren, aims to address the youth mental health crisis exacerbated by social media use. KOSA would require social media platforms to design their products to mitigate harms to minors, such as mental health disorders, online bullying, and harassment.
While critics have highlighted potential censorship issues with KOSA, another significant flaw is its faith in technology’s power to change society. The belief that design can resolve complex social issues overlooks the multifaceted nature of the problems at hand.
Social-psychology research indicates that internet-related social harms often stem from offline dynamics, such as genetics, abusive parents, poverty, and social inequality. Online factors are only one component of children’s welfare and life chances.
Moreover, the effects of technological interventions are not guaranteed. While designers can embed constraints into products, users ultimately interpret technology’s uses and social meanings. Legislators can mandate values in design but not control the outcomes.
Research shows that the impact of digital technologies varies among individuals and contexts. Content can have different effects on different users, depending on their unique situations and interpretations.
While social media platforms bear some responsibility, legislating design interventions as the sole solution for complex social problems oversimplifies the issue. To effectively address the youth mental health crisis, lawmakers should consider a multi-pronged approach, including increasing the number of mental health professionals, promoting community support initiatives, and providing youth opportunities programs. The Biden-Harris administration’s national strategy and investment in youth mental health are steps in the right direction.
Anxiety, depression, and other harms are not problems with easily computable solutions; they are multifaceted, contextual, and social. Technological fixes alone are unlikely to resolve these complex issues.
Legislators must consider broader, multidimensional strategies to address the youth mental health crisis effectively.
