Fear & Loathing in WDC: Regulating Social Media to Protect Us from Ourselves

“Internet Addiction” isn’t a real thing. Yet, Sen. Josh Hawley is flogging his legislation as a cure to this scourge. This is fear tactics at their worst, amplifying uncertainty and anxiety and using social media and tech companies as the new strawmen to rally fearful voters behind a cause.

In spite of Hawley’s drum-beating, “Internet Addiction” isn’t listed as a mental disorder in the DSM-5, the diagnostic manual used by psychologists, Hawley’s proposing legislation alleges to promote “healthy” use of social media by restricting much of its functionality. His qualifications? He is a digital native and, therefore, claims experience in these things. 

This is fear tactics at its worst. Hawley (and others) should think longer-term and go beyond scaring people to get votes.  They should propose mandatory media literacy training in schools to teach young people how to navigate the digital landscape in positive and productive ways and prepare them to handle the tech of today and tomorrow.  Hawley’s approach to “healthy technology use” not only won’t work, it infantilizes the population, increases the digital divide and fans the flames of fear already abundant in political discourse.

Forcing arbitrary and unscientifically supported constraints on tech-builders may achieve some economic or personal agendas, it may hog-tie one or two apps or platforms used today or it may provide a new source to blame for society’s ills, but it will not materially change behavioral outcomes nor will it do anything to prepare users for the future.  This is fear-based or “deficit” legislation and shows little confidence in users’ ability to think critically and self-manage if given the right skills and tools—in other words—if you take the time to educate them.

Hawley’s approach is not only technophobic but takes advantage of voters’ anxieties and fear of loss of control, particularly about their children and technology.  Protecting us from ourselves is a time-tested approach in times of fear. Yet it offers no solution that is based on good science. More importantly, it doesn’t actually support any growth, knowledge or skills in the population.  In doing so, these kinds of proposals perpetuate the digital divide and reveal a lot about a lawmakers’ less than flattering view of the citizenry. 

And if social media is so awful, I would hope that Sen. Hawley doesn’t stoop to using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube in his campaigning.