Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2022
Date Accepted: Oct 31, 2022
Social Media are Addictive and Influence Behavior: Should They be Regulated as a Digital Therapeutic?
ABSTRACT
Recently we were deeply saddened by the findings of the coroner investigating the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell [1]. Deeply saddened and angry but not surprised. Just as the gun lobby and our struggling political system have failed to enact adequate protections against mass shootings in the United States, especially at schools, social media companies continue to spawn extensive mental health and physical harm, offering little more than #thoughtsandprayers in response [2],[3]. This case should be seen as a sentinel event, given that this is the first time social media was directly implicated as a cause of death. We should use this opportunity to advance proposals for the regulations of the health effects of social media.
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