Adults Must Protect Children From Social Media, Expert Warns at International Symposium in Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, December 22, 2024

Tina Purnat, a visiting researcher at the University of Memphis, said on Saturday that adults have a duty to step in if social media harms children’s health.

An expert on public health in the digital world, Purnat was speaking at a symposium aimed at promoting “information health,” in which people strive to take in balanced information online. The event was held at Keio University’s Mita Campus under the auspices of the Keio University X Dignity Center.

Social media platforms, which have been described as addictive, are “not just tools for connection. They’re products that are built to keep us hooked,” Purnat said. “And their algorithms are designed to explore that cycle … [for] especially young people whose brains are still developing, is addictive, and the harms are becoming clearer.”

Noting that Australian lawmakers passed a bill last month to ban the use of social media by people under the age of 16, Purnat stressed, “the only way to change our social norms is to regulate and limit the use of the harmful products at a collective level.”

Following the lecture, researchers from Japan and overseas discussed a wide range of topics, including the concept of information health and measures for promoting it internationally.

They agreed to sign a cooperation agreement between the center and research institutions, as well as researchers in the United States and European and Asia countries, to conduct joint studies on information health.

“Now is the time for us to have information health, which questions what kind of environment and system would enable the intake of autonomous and independent information,” said Keio University Prof. Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, who serves as co-director of the center.