Some governments use legal restrictions to battle social media use; others leave families and individuals to self-regulate. Who’s responsible for young people’s addiction problems?
More and more young people are using social media way too much, according to a survey by the World Health Organisation. The proportion of adolescents with problematic use rose from 7 per cent in 2018 to 11 per cent four years later.
Of course, some content is more harmful than others. It is known that short-format videos are very addictive and are proven to lead to academic procrastination among undergraduates and it also poses risks to both the physical and mental health of individuals. Online platforms invest a lot into amping up engagement, meaning they try to glue users to their screens for as long as possible.
There are policy attempts to curb children’s screen time across the globe. In 2022 China maximized video games at 3 hours per day for minors, and later also limited social media screen time, and obliged platforms to heavily filter their content for child users.
Hungary just introduced a law at the beginning of this academic year demanding that schools take smartphones away from pupils for the entirety of the schoolday, causing confusion about the enforcement of the new law and even firing a high school headmaster over the debate.
But there are more cautious attempts around: the EU has a Digital Services Act that demands certain protections for young users – they just opened a formal investigation against Meta, the company owning Facebook and Instagram, suspecting they don’t comply with the DSA.
Some argue that even though extended screentime affects our sleep and may be responsible for the lack of exercise, and doesn’t stop online bullying, the solution is not forbidding screen time, but the balanced use of social media.
But moderation is very difficult for those who are already addicted. When content sharing platforms tailor their offer directly against the wellbeing of our kids and young adults, who’s responsible for them, and how can they intervene?
Fatima Ursula Kowanda-Yassin has been a psychosocial counsellor since 2022 and integrates nature into her counselling work and workshops through outdoor experiences and visualization work. She also researched the connection of environmental issues, Islam and Muslims at the Sigmund Freud Private University in Vienna.
Julia Dier is a Vienna-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist and co-founder of Verein ERGON. ERGON specialises in the treatment of media addicts.
Karolina Fancy Tóth is a cognitive scientist who studied in the United States and spent 10 years in the IT sector. She has been working in her native Hungary since 2023, and is responsible for the Hungarian Sober November campaign (which aims to educate about conscious alcohol consumption) and the Digital Detox campaign for the Hungarian Blue Point Foundation.
Kristóf Ábel Tarnay is a Budapest-based journalist who has written much on education policy in several Hungarian media outlets. During his studies, he was a student activist in a student organization that makes suggestions to decision-makers and raises awareness of students’ problems.
Réka Kinga Papp, editor-in-chief
Daniela Univazo Marquina, writer-editor
Merve Akyel, art director
Zeynep Feriha Demir, producer
Zsófia Gabriella Papp, digital producer
Priyanka Hutschenreiter, project manager
Judit Csikós, financial manager
Csilla Nagyné Kardos, office administration
Senad Hergić, producer
Leah Hochedlinger, video recording
Marlena Stolze, video recording
Clemens Schmiedbauer, video recording
Richard Brusek, sound recording
Milán Golovics, dialogue editor
Dániel Nagy, dialogue editor
Nóra Ruszkai, video editor
István Nagy, post production
Victor Maria Lima, animation
Music by Crypt-of-Insomnia
Julia Sobota closed captions, Polish and French subtitles; language versions management
Farah Ayyash Arabic subtitles
Mia Belén Soriano Spanish subtitles
Marta Ferdebar Croatian subtitles
Lídia Nádori German subtitles
Katalin Szlukovényi Hungarian subtitles
Olena Yermakova Ukrainian subtitles
Aida Yermekbayeva Russian subtitles
The Alte Schmiede Kunstverein, Vienna
This talk show is a Display Europe production: a ground-breaking media platform anchored in public values.
This programme is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and the European Cultural Foundation.
Importantly, the views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and speakers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Published 7 February 2025
Original in English
First published by Eurozine
© Eurozine / Display Europe
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