As social media trials begin, experts urge regulation of tech architecture, not youth access

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As social media trials begin, experts urge regulation of tech architecture, not youth access

Northwestern psychology and law experts available for interviews with the media

• Expert: We should 'incentivize the integration of proven mental health supports into the digital ecosystems young people already use'

CHICAGO --- As a series of landmark social media trials kick off this week between tech giants Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, and parents alleging the platforms are addictive and harmful, Northwestern University psychology and law experts are available for interviews with the media.

Jessica L. Schleider, adolescent psychologist and researcher who studies scalable digital mental health interventions for youth, calls the trials a "rare opportunity" but also hopes the litigation will not result in a blanket ban on social media, like the recent ban in Australia.

"For the first time, courts and the public are scrutinizing not just what young people do online, but what technology companies have built and why," said Schleider, associate professor of medical social sciences, pediatrics and psychology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Regulation should require transparency around how these systems operate, restrict or prohibit predatory algorithmic feeds for minors, and mandate safer defaults that restore user agency. This is not about censoring content; it is about regulating architecture."

As the director of Northwestern's Lab for Scalable Mental Health, Schleider has led large-scale trials involving tens of thousands of young people that have shown digital tools enable identity exploration and skill-building - and offered to youth freely, anonymously and via social media platforms - can buffer stress and reduce symptoms among vulnerable teens. (More quotes below)

Contact Kristin Samuelson to schedule an interview with Professor Schleider.

James Speta, Elizabeth Froehling Horner Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker Law, is an expert in telecommunications and internet policy. He said it's hard to tell if existing law, such as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, will hold up in this case, but growing social expectations of social media apps could become a powerful tool in the fight for regulation.

Contact Shanice Harris to schedule an interview with Professor Speta.

"Social media, artificial intelligence and other algorithmic services increasingly dominate the ways in which Americans consume information, entertainment, services and even basic goods. Their specific claims may or may not succeed under existing law," Speta said. "But I think more importantly these cases force us to engage with fundamental questions of how our legal rules and more importantly our social expectations should control some of our most powerful technologies and companies."

More quotes from Professor Schleider:

"For many adolescents, especially those who are marginalized, isolated or lack supportive environments offline, online spaces often serve as lifelines. LGBTQ+ youth, youth with mental health challenges, and those in communities with limited access to care often turn to the internet first when they are struggling.

"When brief, self-guided mental health interventions are offered directly within social media platforms, where youth already seek out support, they can reduce near-term hopelessness and self-hatred, increase motivation to stop self-harming, and boost outreach to crisis resources among teens flagged as being at risk.

"Rather than cutting off access to platforms wholesale, we should require and incentivize the integration of proven mental health supports into the digital ecosystems young people already use. Adolescents are online, and they will stay there. The question is whether we will insist on making online spaces safer or settle for bans that let the real problems persist unchecked."