As a 14-year-old I have benefited from online platforms. My friendship group is not only my classmates, it is all over London. The internet saved me during the Covid-era lockdowns. I can stay in touch with far-flung siblings or travelling parents.
But it’s a jungle. Every platform runs on algorithms designed to exploit your interests. Within seconds of reading a post about losing a loved one you are bombarded by stories about depression and self-harm.
If you show the slightest interest in dieting, your screen takes you down the rabbit hole of anorexia. Age restrictions on inappropriate content are a fiction. An 11-year-old is targeted as much as an adult.
Social media also enables bullying in a way that would never happen “irl” — in real life. A good friend of mine was the only Asian in a large Snapchat group. Seemingly for no reason, the others turned on him. For 24 hours he was sent racist and abusive messages. Even after he tried to leave the group he was unwillingly added back and harassed more.
The bullying and hatred on social media makes children feel diminished. This leads to anxiety, depression or worse. A study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada found that young people who use social media for more than two hours a day are significantly more likely to rate their mental health as “poor”.
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You can’t escape the online vicious circle: the only interaction with others is through the screen and keyboard. We can’t turn back the clock — more than half of the world’s population has a social media account — but we can focus on curbing harmful side-effects.
For a start, algorithms should be transparent. We should know what factors create our online diet. We need regulation and oversight. Platforms must be accountable for posts that cause self-harm and depression.
Social media firms must find them and ban them, along with explicit content targeted at minors. Don’t listen to the tech giants’ excuses that they’re trying their best. They are not. Hit them with real penalties: fines, civil liability and, if necessary, criminal sanctions.
But we young people have our part to play too. We can limit our screen time voluntarily. We can decide with our friends to stay off our phones and screens. We can refocus on traditional ways of play and spending time with real people — something our parents took for granted.
Our generation faces an existential threat to our happiness, mental health and, in extreme cases, our physical survival. We deserve better, at your hands — and at our own.
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Alexander Browder is studying for GCSEs in London
