It appears that social media is under more scrutiny now than ever before. From the federal government to local municipalities, elected officials are stepping up efforts to try to regulate them.
The latest example is the San Diego County Board of Supervisors that has voted this week to join the nationwide trend to restrict youth access to social media platforms.
On a vote of 3-2, with Democrats now in the majority on the board, they approved a proposal to look into suing social media companies over their platforms’ effects on young people’s safety and mental health.
As supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer put it, "the county took action to hold opportunistic social media companies accountable and push them to change the way they do business.”
Any parent knows how social media can impact their teen and pre-teen kids.And most parents these days take steps to control their kids use of social media. The evidence shows the problem has gotten worse….with the percentage of high school students in the U.S with symptoms of depression up 14 percent in 10 years.
The social media companies have so far not been all that receptive to pleas from parents, schools and governments to take more steps to prevent the harm social media can do.
So that means parents are going to have to stay at it and remain vigilant over their kids’ time on social media.
(Photo Getty Images)