With TikTok’s owner under pressure to sell its U.S. business, we can create a new vision for the internet. That’s why I support the People’s Bid for TikTok – and other parents should do the same.
US Surgeon General calls for warnings on social media for teenagers
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms.
without brand – newsworthy
My daughter Becca Schmill would have turned 23 this year. Becca was a beautiful, caring person whose smile lit up any room. She had her own hopes and dreams, but before she could begin her freshman year at the University of Richmond, Becca died at the age of 18 after taking drugs laced with fentanyl.
Although the official cause of death was fentanyl, the path to this was paved by social media.
Like many young people at the time, Becca got her first smartphone in middle school. Three years before her death, she was added to an online party chat where she was introduced to a group of 18-year-old boys – one of whom later raped her. She was 15. As she tried to process this trauma, the process was undermined by a humiliating cyberbullying incident. The shame and anguish the attack caused – compounded by the cruelty of some of her peers on multiple social media platforms – left a hole in her heart that Becca tried to fill through self-medication.
Becca had a loving family and the support of counselors, but social media gave her access to illegal drugs whenever she felt the need to escape her inner pain.
The interests of children were not the primary focus when social media was developed.
My daughter’s story is unique, but her experiences with social media are the same ones millions of children experience every day. The scary thing is that when a child suffers harm online, it is often because social media is working exactly as it was designed to. Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook use powerful algorithms designed to maximize time spent on their apps, rewarding despair and outrage and targeting the most vulnerable among us.
For children and teenagers, who are at crucial stages of their mental development, social media takes control of their brains. When young people find themselves in danger online, there is little parents can do to intervene. The apps can turn happy lives into nightmares.
When I tried to raise my concerns on social media platforms, I quickly realized that they had no interest in making their products child-safe. Their main interest was and is increasing engagement to increase their profits.
Social media platforms are not designed to be safe for children. According to research by Jonathan Haidt, renowned social psychologist and New York Times bestselling author, social media is largely responsible for an epidemic of mental illness among America’s youth.
Depression and anxiety are increasing among young people: one in three teenage girls say they have seriously considered suicide in the past year.
In addition to mental health problems, sextortion and drug trafficking on the internet are also exploding. The US Secretary of Health has rightly called for warning labels to be placed on social media apps, but much more needs to be done.
Stop listening to social media influencers. They lead to excessive consumption.
Why don’t technology companies do more to protect children themselves?
Big tech companies put profit first, even though their own internal research shows that their design features harm children. That is why laws like the Kids Online Safety Act – The law requires technology companies to prioritize child safety in design decisions and enable the strongest safety settings by default – that’s how important it is. The bill is a crucial first step.
Beyond legislation, we need a different kind of digital world, where social media and the internet are here to empower us, not harm us. We need a new way forward that creates a better digital experience for everyone – especially children.
Today, more than 170 million Americans use TikTok, and a significant percentage of TikTok users are under 15 years old.
After YouTube, it’s the most popular platform for young people. This year, Congress passed a law giving Chinese parent company ByteDance up to a year to sell TikTok’s U.S. business or face a ban. What happens next will affect every parent and child in this country.
No TikTok? No problem. For this reason, you should not rush into buying a phone for your child.
We can start to realize a new vision for the internet. That’s why I support Project Liberty’s People’s Bid for TikTok—and I think other parents should do the same.
The truth is that most kids use TikTok, and the same problems we find on other apps – cyberbullying, addiction, toxic algorithms – are afoot on this platform. Under Project Liberty’s vision, led by founder Frank McCourt, TikTok would be redesigned without its algorithm, tackling many of social media’s harms at their source.
It’s time we take control of our digital future
Project Liberty’s plan would also give people control over their data. The platform would be designed for a safer, healthier online experience. And it would finally give people — called “users” in the apps — a voice in our digital future. In other words, the People’s Bid for TikTok would create the blueprint for a digital world where people are in charge.
Only if we create an alternative to what exists today will the digital landscape change for the better. But I fear the window of opportunity to act is closing.
If you are a parent concerned about your children and their use of social media, I urge you to ask yourself and other parents the hard questions. Have conversations with them while you are waiting in line to pick up your children from school, at parent-teacher meetings, on the sidelines at soccer games, and at the kitchen table with your family.
As the new school year begins and you think about how to keep your child safe, ask yourself, “Are they safe online?” and “Is their relationship with social media healthy?” Have an open dialogue with your child and make it clear that they are allowed to talk to you about what they see on social media – and tell others how “People’s Bid” would make TikTok safer and healthier for kids.
If the internet and social media had been designed to be safe, my daughter might still be here. I miss Becca every minute of the day and don’t want any other family to go through what ours went through. As a parent and as an American, I am fighting for the right to take back control of our online world. I encourage all parents to join me.
Deb Schmill is founder and president of the Becca Schmill Foundation.
