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Social Media


PROSECUTORS TURN THEIR EXTORTION RACKET AGAINST FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM


THE PROPENSITY OF PROSECUTORS TO JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS BEFORE ALL THE EVIDENCE IS
IN IS VERY DESTRUCTIVE—AND NOTHING NEW.

Jeffrey A. Singer | 10.26.2023 10:45 AM

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(Illustration: Lex Villena; Karen Hoar, Ootto007)

Having extorted what they could from pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies by
blaming them for the overdose crisis, several state attorneys generals (AGs)
have now set their sights on extorting social media platforms for causing
so-called "social media addiction" among our youth. On October 24, 33 states
filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging Meta "has harnessed powerful and
unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and
teens." 

One of the allegations—that Meta violated federal law by collecting data on
children under age 13 without parental consent—is prosecutorial fair game. Not
fair game, however, is the claim that "the company knowingly designed and
deployed harmful features on Instagram, Facebook, and its other social media
platforms that purposefully addict children and teens," as New York Attorney
General Letitia James, a co-plaintiff, made in an official statement about the
case.

As I wrote in 2018, the science is still unsettled as to whether social media
addiction is even a thing. Scientists and clinicians agree that the
distinguishing characteristic of addiction is the compulsive use of a substance
or engagement in a behavior despite negative consequences. Addiction researchers
have not yet reached a consensus as to whether perceived excessive time spent on
the internet and engaged with social media is an addictive behavioral disorder. 

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The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-5) does not designate "internet addiction" or "social
media addiction" as a mental disorder. Instead, it designates it as a "condition
for further study," which is notable in light of economic incentives for the
psychiatry profession to medicalize problem behaviors.

A 2009 analysis of 61 empirical articles on "internet addiction" conducted
between 1996 and 2006 determined they used "inconsistent criteria to define
internet addicts, applied recruiting methods that may cause serious sampling
bias, and examined data using primarily exploratory rather than confirmatory
data analysis techniques to investigate the degree of association rather than
causal relationships among variables." A 2011 review by researchers at
Nottingham Trent University also found empirical studies to have considerable
limitations, restricting the "generalizability of findings." In a 2017 follow-up
study, the researchers found that methodological problems persist. In a study
published in 2017, Jean Twenge and colleagues at San Diego State University
found that 99.64 percent of the girls' depressive symptoms did not correlate
with social media use. While others have linked social media use with depression
and even suicide, causation has not yet been established. Alas, this has not
deterred politicians, pundits, and now, prosecutors, who are all too willing to
jump to conclusions.

The propensity of prosecutors to jump to conclusions before all the evidence is
in is very destructive—and nothing new. State and local prosecutors sought to
blame the makers of prescription pain pills, pharmacies, and doctors for causing
the overdose crisis, even though there is no correlation between prescription
volume and nonmedical use or addiction to prescription pain pills. They embraced
the narrative that overprescribing pain medications generated the current
population seeking opioids in the black market and overdosing on fentanyl,
despite government data showing the percentage of adults aged 18 and above
addicted to prescription pain pills has been stable and never greater than 0.7
percent since the National Survey on Drug Use and Health began in 2002. 



Prosecutors singled out Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, as the worst
offender. The Food and Drug Administration approved OxyContin, a concentrated
formulation of oxycodone designed to extend its pain-relieving effect, in 1996.
A recent study published in the Yale Law and Policy Review found that "only 9.0%
of all nonmedical opioid users in 2001 reported ever using OxyContin during
their lifetime." The U.S. Supreme Court announced it will review a bankruptcy
settlement between prosecutors and Purdue Pharma. 

Meanwhile, as opioid prescribing plummets while pain patients suffer, the opioid
overdose rate, mainly from illicit fentanyl, continues to climb.

A lack of scientific evidence didn't stop ambitious AGs from squeezing drug
makers and pharmacies, allowing them to fill state coffers while harming
patients and accelerating the overdose rate. That same ambition might also
explain why prosecutors don't want to wait for conclusive evidence about social
media addiction. Social media users should worry about what collateral damage to
digital communication and innovation the prosecutors leave in their wake. 

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NEXT: (Republican) War Is Over

Jeffrey A. Singer practices general surgery in Phoenix, Arizona, and is a senior
fellow at the Cato Institute.

Social MediaAddictionTikTokFacebookTeenagersChildrenCriminal Justice
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