Meta Just Paid $18 Billion for Harming Kids — So Why Are We Still Scrolling?
Meta have just agreed to an $18bn settlement in the US over claims its platforms harm children. Teen accounts in the US will have usage limits capped to two hours, notifications will be muted during school hours, and safety features will be on automatically rather than off by default.
It’s a win, for sure. But what about those two hours a day — adding up to an entire month of scrolling every year — they’re still using the platforms? And what about adults? We’re left with adverts compelling us to download apps that block scrolling, of devices that attach to our phones that block scrolling, we’re left with questions of our willpower — can’t we just stop?
These apps are designed to weasel their way into our heads and keep us on them. Tiny drops of dopamine to keep us scrolling. And they’re giving us depression, reducing our life satisfaction, and destroying our attention span in return.
The longer we come up with reasons to justify using them, the longer we’re trapped in the mechanism.
It’s no longer a question of balance; Meta have paid an inordinate sum of money to the US government in admittance of the harm they’re causing our children. And if they’re harming children, they’re harming us, too.
Delete the apps, stop wasting your singularly precious life in the mechanism, and replace that doomed time that’s risking your mental health with anything else. I promise the peace you’ll find on the other side is worth more than any reasons that kept you inside.
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