Last month, 41 US states sued Meta Platforms Inc, accusing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram of knowingly and deliberately designing addictive features that harm children and contribute to young people’s mental health problems. The attorneys general of the states said in a joint lawsuit that Meta uses misleading marketing to foster addictive behavior in kids and teens and profit off them.
Meta is no stranger to lawsuits and controversy. From the US to Europe and Asia, the tech giant has been accused of multiple consumer protection, data privacy and antitrust contraventions over the years. However, the latest lawsuit is one of the largest of its kind and could have a greater-than-expected effect on social media companies as a whole if Meta is held accountable.
Moreover, it highlights a growing concern in the US about the phenomenon of social media addiction among adolescents. It also signals that legal action must be taken to address dependency on social media, as the impact on young people’s mental health is too serious to be ignored.
According to psychiatric experts, social media addiction refers to one’s behavior being inordinately concerned about social media or driven by an uncontrollable urge to use social media. By devoting so much time to social media, this behavioral addiction has negatively affected the daily lives of many children, with some even developing physical and mental health problems, experts say.
A study published in 2017 by the scientific journal PLOS One found that 4.5 percent of adolescents in the US had a social media addiction, with low self-esteem and high levels of depression. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported in November 2021 that Facebook’s own research identified 12 percent of its users engaging in compulsive use of social media, which had affected their sleep, work, parenting or relationships.
Other studies in the US in recent years have also demonstrated that severe psychological problems — including depression, anxiety, insomnia, disruptions to education and daily life, and many other negative emotions — have resulted from excessive social media use by children. In the complaints filed by the US states against Meta, they said the company’s social media platforms “exploit psychological vulnerabilities of young users” to keep kids engaged in the networking sites for the next story, image or video, while “ignoring the next piece of social content could lead to social isolation.”
In Taiwan, a survey conducted by the Child Welfare League Foundation in late 2021 showed that 86.9 percent of adolescents reported experiencing “fear of missing out” (FOMO) from social media — far higher than the 69 percent recorded in separate surveys in the US.
FOMO refers to people who are always worried about whether they have missed any information, so they tend to spend more time scrolling social media out of a need to feel welcomed by others. Most importantly they cannot stop checking and refreshing networking sites. As the number of social media users increases, so does the number of people who experience FOMO.
Social media addiction has become a new epidemic of the century. It is hard to imagine that Taiwan would address this issue like the US by filing lawsuits against social media companies directly, therefore it requires collective efforts by individuals, parents and schools to help reduce the risks associated with the dangers of addictive behavior. While completely avoiding social media might be impossible for most people nowadays, setting time limits on social media usage and developing interests and hobbies are steps that could be taken to avoid addiction.
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
US political scientist Francis Fukuyama, during an interview with the UK’s Times Radio, reacted to US President Donald Trump’s overturning of decades of US foreign policy by saying that “the chance for serious instability is very great.” That is something of an understatement. Fukuyama said that Trump’s apparent moves to expand US territory and that he “seems to be actively siding with” authoritarian states is concerning, not just for Europe, but also for Taiwan. He said that “if I were China I would see this as a golden opportunity” to annex Taiwan, and that every European country needs to think
For years, the use of insecure smart home appliances and other Internet-connected devices has resulted in personal data leaks. Many smart devices require users’ location, contact details or access to cameras and microphones to set up, which expose people’s personal information, but are unnecessary to use the product. As a result, data breaches and security incidents continue to emerge worldwide through smartphone apps, smart speakers, TVs, air fryers and robot vacuums. Last week, another major data breach was added to the list: Mars Hydro, a Chinese company that makes Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as LED grow lights and the
RSS