US lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to address social media addiction

A Fb whistleblower, Frances Haugen, made a giant splash final 12 months with paperwork exhibiting that subsidiary Instagram was dangerous to youngsters whereas others have alleged that social media platforms unfold harmful misinformation about coronavirus and the vaccines to stop it, amongst different ills.

Beneath the invoice, the Nationwide Science Basis and Nationwide Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Drugs would do a research into potential interventions that Fb or others might use to handle issues of social media dependancy, Klobuchar’s workplace stated in a launch on Thursday.

The Federal Commerce Fee would create guidelines primarily based on the findings, and maintain the platforms accountable if they don’t comply, the discharge stated.

“For too lengthy, tech corporations have stated ‘Belief us, we have got this.’ However we all know that social media platforms have repeatedly put income over folks, with algorithms pushing harmful content material that hooks customers and spreads misinformation. This invoice will assist handle these practices,” stated Klobuchar in an announcement.

Twitter didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Fb declined to remark however pointed to a weblog submit in December that stated it will implement new instruments for Instagram that might, for instance, cease folks from tagging teenagers who do not observe them or to take a break from the display screen.