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Internet Addiction Efforts Ensnare the Young and Those Prone to Gambling
Addiction usually means drugs or alcohol, but in today’s world, it is much more far-reaching than gambling; it’s kids’ presence on the internet.
The internet is a multi-headed hydra, according to what we’re reading; it can be an incredible breakthrough in education and research sharing or a wily means of addicting kids to games or specific platforms and damaging to mental health. The latter is now playing out in court lawsuits against major platforms for privacy violations and emotional harm, and the decisions will bring change if there is the resolve and money to enforce appropriate change. And, as we’ve seen from the lawsuits, privacy isn’t the only issue in contention or initiating suits.
The parent companies of TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube, are facing legal action in more than 600 school districts nationwide and in the state of Utah. The lawsuits allege that the platforms harm young adults mentally and emotionally, and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stated that social media is an “important driver of that [mental health] crisis—one that we must urgently address.”
But privacy and emotional harms like depression and anxiety may be stating the case too simply. What some resources believe to be a brand-new form of addiction alarms them. Yes, we’ve heard…
