Victoria Hinks has no doubt that social media contributed to the deterioration of the mental health of her daughter Alexandra, who took her own life before turning 17.
Wiping away her tears, Victoria, next to her husband Paul, spoke publicly about the death of her daughter, – on August 7, 2024 – a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur, in Marin County, in northern California.
“There is nothing in me that doubts that social media led her to that final, irreversible decision,” Hinks said, during a news conference in San Francisco, flanked by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Assemblywoman California, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda).
Hinks said her daughter became addicted to TikTok content, particularly the part glorifying suicide, eating disorders and other harmful behaviors.
“She would hide in her room for hours,” Hinks said of her daughter’s behavior. “Taking away his phone was like taking a drug from an addict.”
Hazard Warning Labels
Now, Prosecutor Bonta and Assemblywoman Bauer-Kahan are seeking clear information about the risks of social networks for children and adolescents.
AB 56 aims to require social media platforms to display warning labels about the mental health risks associated with their services, and also seeks to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of social media on young people, such as depression, anxiety and addiction.
An advisory report from the United States Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. shows that social media use among young people is almost universal, with up to 95% of those ages 13 to 17 reporting using a social media platform, and more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.”
Although the required age to use social networks is usually 13 years old, almost 40% of children between 8 and 12 years old use social networks. The widespread use of internet platforms is three hours for children and adolescents.
AB 56 would require social media companies to disclose risk to users by adding a warning label to their networks to ensure consumers have equal access to information that may affect their physical and mental health.
“Social media companies have demonstrated an unwillingness to address the mental health crisis and have instead delved into leveraging addictive features and harmful content for the sake of profit,” said Prosecutor Bonta.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that consumers have access to information that may affect their health, so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families,” he added.
The official highlighted that warning labels on social networks are an equitable and transparent way to communicate the risks that their participation in social networks represents for young users.
“Warning stamps alone are not a panacea, they are yet another tool to address the growing mental health crisis and protect future generations of children,” said Rob Bonta.
If this legislation is successful, social media companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram would have to show all users, regardless of their age, a black box warning the first time they log in and once a week afterward.
The language proposed for the label is simple and direct.
According to the prosecutor, the Surgeon General has warned that there are ample indicators that social media may have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.
“This label won’t solve everything, but it is critical to raising awareness about the real public health crisis we are in,” Bonta said. “This is about ensuring that all consumers have the same basic information about what they are subscribing to.”
The label is simple
The label is similar to the warning on cigarette packs and alcohol bottles.
Mother of three teenage children, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan expressed that the hours that children and young people spend on social media does not mean that everyone knows that California, the country and the entire world is in a global health crisis mental.
He stressed that, in the last decade, young people around the world, especially girls, have experienced a dramatic increase in rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide.
“This crisis is real, urgent and getting worse,” he warned. “This collapse of youth mental health coincides with the rise of social networks,” he added.
She said that, although she grew up without social networks and did not see anything of what she sees today, “our children have changed their social lives [por estar] online”.
THE legislator declared that, study after study shows that the intensive use of social networks is correlated with the highest rates of psychological distress.
“We also know that when children and young people reduce their use of social networks, their mental health improves significantly,” he said. “It is the combination of addictive features and toxic content that overwhelms the brains of these teenagers.”
For all this, he assured that there is a powerful profit motive to keep young people hooked and engaged online.
“It’s exploiting human psychology with notifications like endless scrolling and algorithmic amplification that is harming our children every day,” Bauer-Kahan said.
Bipartisan support for the initiative
Attorney James Pearson Steyer, a Stanford University professor and founder of Common Sense Media, which supports AB-56, said he expected the tech industry lobby group NetChoice to file a tailored lawsuit.
“The bill passes the legislature, often with overwhelming bipartisan support, because all of our leaders in California want to protect our children,” Pearson Steyer said. “There is no First Amendment right when they addict our children to the features of their designs.” [de mercadotecnia]”.
“So we will fight in court and see what happens,” he said. “But the fact that we can be sued in the future after the important bill is passed will be important, because, to protect our children, no one will stop us. Just as we needed seat belts and alcohol warning labels, we now need digital safety standards for social media platforms.”