What is the "it?" The "it" is the fact that social media court cases are starting to loudly prove that yes, social media is an addiction, and it can cause harm to kids.
Two landmark trials have been in the news in the past six weeks. Earlier this year on March 24th Meta (parent company to Facebook) was ordered by a jury in New Mexico to pay $375 million due to violating state consumer protection laws, viewing both the Facebook and Instagram platforms to be "a breeding ground for predators." The very next day, March 25th, a lawsuit in California sided with a 20-year-old female who was suing Meta & Google (who owns YouTube), awarding her $6 million for causing years of mental health issues. The endless scrolling, algorithms, and purposeful addictive nature created by social media companies were ruled to be the blame for endangering children. And while tech companies are appealing these verdicts, multiple additional lawsuits are cropping up. The very loud message: tech companies knew the dangers in these devices, platforms, and programs... and sold them to our kids anyway.
So the table is turning when it comes to technology, apps, doomscrolling, and more.
For those who don't get the "Big Tobacco Moment" reference, here's the backstory. Smoking, which long goes back in our historic timeline, really became glamorized throughout society from the 1920s to 1960s. Seemingly everyone smoked. Despite growing scientific studies over time that this is not a healthy habit, smoking had been pitched as "It's all on the person, and it is a personal choice." Awareness and science began leaning more heavily to "The product is the problem, and we need to pitch the product as such." Tobacco companies put a lot of money into advertising and debunking these claims. The tide slowly began turning in 1965 when a Congressional ruling stated that cigarette packages need mandatory warning labels. Then, TV and radio ads were banned in 1970. But despite all of this, smoking continued to be a large part of global culture, with people viewing it as "cool," relaxing, and socially acceptable, regardless of what science had to say.
Which now takes us back to "Social Media's Big Tobacco Moment." With the first iPhone coming out in 2007, we are now nearly 2 decades into this "social experiment" of allowing handheld mini-computers into our daily lives. Not just adults, but kids and teens too. Throw in iPads, tablets, and ready-to-use laptops at every age, where are we now? Many of us (grownups and kids alike) are completely sucked into our devices:
And I must admit: I fall just as victim to it as all the rest! I am no better than any of the rest of us. Despit my "tech teacher, book reading" self! It makes us feel weak for getting sucked into the vortex and having no self control. And I'm an adult. What about our kids and our teens and our young adults?
So the table is turning when it comes to technology, apps, doomscrolling, and more.
For those who don't get the "Big Tobacco Moment" reference, here's the backstory. Smoking, which long goes back in our historic timeline, really became glamorized throughout society from the 1920s to 1960s. Seemingly everyone smoked. Despite growing scientific studies over time that this is not a healthy habit, smoking had been pitched as "It's all on the person, and it is a personal choice." Awareness and science began leaning more heavily to "The product is the problem, and we need to pitch the product as such." Tobacco companies put a lot of money into advertising and debunking these claims. The tide slowly began turning in 1965 when a Congressional ruling stated that cigarette packages need mandatory warning labels. Then, TV and radio ads were banned in 1970. But despite all of this, smoking continued to be a large part of global culture, with people viewing it as "cool," relaxing, and socially acceptable, regardless of what science had to say. Things significantly began changing in 1994 when several cigarette company CEOs came before Congress to say that nicotine was not addictive nor dangerous to your health (despite scientific evidence proving otherwise). The downfalls continued to come with multiple lawsuits. In 1998 there was a Master Settlement Agreement for over $206 billion, covering 46 states and making it the largest settlement in US history. This loudly emphasized that yes, smoking causes serious health risks, diseases, and cancer. This led to a 2-3 decade decline in smoking, where now in 2025 less than 10% of American adults smoke. Clearly the pendulum has swung and a majority of Americans now outwardly see the perils of this habit.
- autoplaying the next video,
- scrolling scrolling down the suggested path created by stronger and more stringent algorithms than even a decade ago,
- fearing the loss of our "streaks"which brings us repeatedly back every day,
- riding the comparison mentality, stuck in social media with FOMO (fear of missing out),
- neglecting those around us while being addicted to what our online friends have to say,
And none of these features came by accident. Designers and programmers built these devices to act exacty in this way: holding our focus, bringing money to the company through our hijacked attention, and profiting off our clicks.
And I must admit: I fall just as victim to it as all the rest! I am no better than any of the rest of us. Despit my "tech teacher, book reading" self! It makes us feel weak for getting sucked into the vortex and having no self control. And I'm an adult. What about our kids and our teens and our young adults?
But maybe... just maybe... it's all in the addictive nature of the dopamine-hitting design versus our own willpower. Just like the addictive nature of tobacco. Souds like it's not a fair fight. How are we ever to win? Perhaps though more guardrails that tech companies clearly need to help protect us all, old and small.
What that means is that we all need to both become informed citizens, and then start behaving like them. Advocate for safer design and legislation--especially those that protect our kids. That might look like taking action, signing petitions, or voicing your concerns to your community.
Additionally, we the parents, educators, and consumers all need to step up and fight the addictive nature and parent both ourselves and our children. This can also do include:
- Turning off all non-essential notifications to help us become less connected to our devices.
- Eliminating "tech-grazing time" by building in more boundaries in our homes and schools. This could look like "no-phone-zones" or windows of time where we don't use tech. (For example: before bedtime, right when we get up, less multi-tasking on multiple devices).
- Removing the apps on our phones that suck us in the quickest: games, social media, and other ones that get our most addictive attention. We need to break our own bad habits.
- Carefully curating your feed. Make it a space of inspiration, not gloomy news or topics that lend toward depression or anxiety, pulling you deeper into doomscrolling.
- Building in time limits on your kids devices, and creating opportunities where you "tech together" then play or learn together in no-tech ways too.
The pull is hard. But it's not just us. The game IS rigged. And now by way of social media's 'Big Tobacco Moment," courts, doctors, researchers, educators, parents, and even some platform designers are saying what maybe we have already felt for a long time: The problems isn't just us or our willpower. The product is flawed by designed to keep us stuck.
So it's up to all citizens to keep up the noise, the lawsuits, the conversations, the advocating for better guardrails, and the protection of our kids. It's also our role as parents and educators to really speak about how these tools work our brains, hearts, and emotions. Tech is a tool... but it isn't our everything or even a fraction of what is important. People are. That is certainly worth fighting for.
Images from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/march-30-social-medias-big-tobacco-moment-newslitproject-xf2ac/ and https://highschool.latimes.com/news/a-big-tobacco-moment-for-big-tech-the-cost-of-addictive-design/ and Time Magazine cover screenshot from https://onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/sellingsmoke/page/big-tobacco--big-lawsuits and https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/social-media-addiction-lawsuit-tiktok-meta-mark-zuckerberg-5q2mbkmsn
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