Meeting Packet — Florida House of Representatives Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee
Summary
A meeting packet for the Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee of the Florida House of Representatives Commerce Committee, for a meeting on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm in Webster Hall. The agenda lists a presentation and panel discussion on how social media affects minors. The packet includes Presentation 1, Social Media and Kids, by Andrew Selepak, PhD, and Presentation 2, Social Media and the Mental Health of Young People, by Thomas Joiner. The slides cover social media revenue, risks and benefits for teens, deepfakes, and a lawsuit by attorneys general in 33 states against Meta.
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- 2023 12 06 3236 Regulatory Reform Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting Packets Fn Rrs
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- 2023 12 06 3236 Regulatory Reform Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting Packets Fn Rrs 12 6 23
Cite this document
“Meeting Packet — Florida House of Representatives Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee.”
Original at www.flhouse.gov, dated 2023-12-06. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-12-06-2023-12-06-3236-regulatory-reform-economic-development-subcommittee-meeting-packets-fn-rrs-12-6-23/
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Regulatory Reform & Economic
Development Subcommittee
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Webster Hall (212 Knott)
Meeting Packet
Paul Renner Tyler Sirois
Speaker Chair
The Florida House of Representatives
Commerce Committee
Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee
Paul Renner Tyler Sirois
Speaker Chair
Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Webster Hall (212 Knott)
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Welcome and Opening Remarks
IV. Presentation on How Social Media Affects Minors
Panel Discussion on How Social Media Affects Minors, and Related Solutions
V. Closing Remarks
VI. Adjournment
303 House Office Building, 402 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717-4870
Presentation 1
Social Media and Kids
Presented before the Florida House of
Representatives Regulatory Reform & Economic
Development Subcommittee (RRS)
December 6, 2023
Andrew Selepak, PhD
• Assistant Instructional Professor in the Department of
Telecommunication, UF College of Journalism and Communications
• Program Coordinator for the Master’s in Mass Communication with a
specialization in Social Media since 2013
• PhD in Mass Communications, University of Florida, 2011
• MA in Communication, George Mason University, 2006
• BA in American History, University of Virginia, 2001
Social Media and teens
The New York Times article from June 17, 2023
What is Social Media?
Social Media is the social interaction among people and brands using mobile
and web-based technologies where they create, share, discuss, exchange
information, and modify content in virtual communities that are evolving
day to day.
Social Media allows for content consumption
And content creation
Social Media is also more than platforms and the Internet, but everything
connected to the Web.
But make no mistake
Social media is big business:
• Facebook’s revenue in 2022 was $116.6 billion
• Instagram’s revenue in 2022 was $51.4 billion
• YouTube’s revenue in 2022 was $29.2 billion
• LinkedIn’s revenue in 2022 was $14.5 billion
• TikTok’s revenue in 2022 was $9.4 billion
• Twitter’s revenue in 2022 was $4.4 billion
How do social media companies make
money?
Social media companies generate revenue from:
• Advertising
• The more time we spend on platforms, the more advertisements we see
• Selling access to targeted audiences
• Subscriptions
• LinkedIn Premium or X Blue
• Selling data to data collection companies who sell it to third parties for targeted
advertising
• When you like something on Facebook and then see ads for it off Facebook
• Transaction fees and Virtual Products
• Facebook no longer charges to raise money for charities but does charge for
personal fundraisers.
• Dating sites will “sell” additional Super Likes
• Venture capital
• For start-up companies
How do individuals make money on social
media?
The most common ways individuals make money:
• Selling products:
• Selling products directly with Instagram Shopping, or with links to company
website
• Influencer marketing:
• Companies partner with users with large followings to promote a product
• Creating subscriber content
• Users paying to view creator content
• Advertising
• YouTube ads
Different types of social media
There are many ways to divide social media by type, including:
• Traditional social media:
Examples: Facebook and LinkedIn
• Image sharing social media:
Examples: Instagram and Snapchat
• Video sharing social media:
Examples: TikTok and YouTube
• Blogging and Forum social media:
Examples: Tumblr and Reddit
• Messaging apps:
Examples: WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger
• Livestream social media:
Examples: Twitch and Instagram Live
• Other:
Examples: Multiplayer video games, music apps, dating apps, etc.
According to the
Pew Research
Platforms Center, YouTube is
being used by the most popular
young people social media
platform among 13
to 17-year-olds in
the US
According to the
Pew Research
Center, a majority
of teens use
Daily usage YouTube and TikTok
every day
According to the
Pew Research
Teens are Center, more than
addicted to half of teens say it
social media would be difficult
to give up social
media
The good of social media
• Allows us to connect with others
• Provides quick access to information
• Educational
• Provides a sense of community and belonging
• Allows for greater civic engagement
• Provides entertainment and avenue for self-expression
• Acts as a public square
The negatives of social media
• Intentionally addictive
• Encourages self-image manipulation
• Peer pressure to post to social media
• Slacktivism and virtue signaling
• Cyberbullying
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
• Privacy concerns
• Exposure to harmful content
According to Pew,
majorities of teens
report social media
Teens see helps them feel
connected to their
social media friends, allows them to
personally as be creative, and
provides a sense of
positive acceptance.
But many also feel
overwhelmed, isolated,
pressured into posting
and engaging, and that
it negatively impacts
self-esteem.
Problems with self-report data and responses
Self-report studies have several disadvantages, including:
• Social desirability bias:
People may intentionally lie to make a good impression.
• Honesty:
Subjects may choose a more socially acceptable answer than being truthful.
• Introspective ability:
Subjects may not be able to assess themselves accurately.
• Invalid answers:
Respondents may not answer truthfully, especially on sensitive questions.
• Lack of insight:
Participants may lack insight into their own situation.
• Response distortion:
Item transparency makes self-report measures susceptible to motivational and
response distortion.
• Memory:
Human memory is fallible, and people may "remember" events that never
happened.
Harmful effects of social media for teens
• According to the Mayo Clinic:
• A 2019 study of more than 6,500 12 - to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that
those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at
heightened risk for mental health problems.
• According to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy:
• "Teens who use social media for more than three hours a day face double the
risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.”
• According to the May 2023 Social Media and Youth Mental Health
Advisory from the US Surgeon General:
• Social media can perpetuate "body dissatisfaction, disordered eating
behaviors, social comparison, and low self-esteem, especially among
adolescent girls."
Conflicting views
• According to the American Psychological Association:
• Using social media is not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people.
Adolescents’ lives online both reflect and impact their offline lives. In most
cases, the effects of social media are dependent on adolescents’ own
personal and psychological characteristics and social circumstances.
• The effects of social media likely depend on what teens can do and see online, teens’
preexisting strengths or vulnerabilities, and the contexts in which they grow up.
• But: In general, potential risks are likely to be greater in early adolescence—a
period of greater biological, social, and psychological transitions, than in late
adolescence and early adulthood.
Social Media companies know
• In 2021, it was revealed that Facebook (now Meta) had been studying
the impact of their platforms on young users for at least two years
• Leaked documents of a March 2020 presentation titled “Teen Mental
Health Deep Dive,” posted to Facebook’s internal message board
revealed:
• “Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies,
Instagram made them feel worse”
• “Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe
themselves.”
• “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls”
• “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression”
• Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American
users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram
TikTok does it too
• The Intercept uncovered an internal document that confirmed TikTok
once “instructed moderators to suppress posts created by users
deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform.”
• TikTok claimed this was to prevent bullying
Social Media companies don’t really care
• Expanding their base of young users is vital to a social media company
as they may become longtime users, help platforms become socially
relevant, and teens are prioritized by advertisers
• Internal documents from 2018 obtained by The New York Times
revealed Instagram was afraid of losing the teenage market to other
apps
• An internal strategy memo stated: “If we lose the teen foothold in the U.S. we
lose the pipeline.”
Mark Zuckerberg on teens and social media
• In a March 2021 congressional hearing, when asked about children
and mental health, Mark Zuckerberg said:
• “The research that we’ve seen is that using social apps to connect with other
people can have positive mental-health benefits”
• According to The Wall Street Journal:
• Facebook has consistently played down the app’s negative effects on teens,
and hasn’t made its research public or available to academics or lawmakers
who have asked for it.
Minimal protections in place for young
people
• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• This Act protects children under the age of 13 and their data.
• This Act is applied to sites made for children
• COPPA requires that children under the age of 13 provide consent from
parents before information from them can be collected
• But no one is really checking
Multistate lawsuit
• Attorneys general in 33 states filed a federal lawsuit against Meta.
• The lawsuit alleges Meta harmed young users on Facebook and Instagram
through highly manipulative algorithms and technological tools.
• These techniques were allegedly deliberately deployed by Meta to attract
and sustain engagement, and collect personal information for advertisers,
including children without parental consent — which is required by law
(COPPA).
• The lawsuit allege compulsive use of Facebook or Instagram by teens and
children can cause physical and mental harm.
Meta has wanted to reach young audiences
• According to the New Jersey Bar Foundation:
• In 2018, Instagram allocated $390 million to pursue and maintain teen users through
digital ads, pinpointing 13- to 15-year-olds, dubbed the “early high school” category, as
the most important target of their ad dollars.
• Advertisers were encouraged to create ads intended for the early high school category
but making them appeal to even younger children.
• In 2021, Facebook proposed an Instagram for kids which would have been
designed for children under the age of 13
• The project is on hold but not entirely scrapped
Instagram for kids
Example ads found on the web
Instagram ad policy:
But young people are already on social media
• As reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2021:
• Social media usage is common for kids under 13, research finds. In that
demographic, roughly 30% use TikTok, while 22% use Snapchat and 11% use
Instagram.
• This does not count the number of young people exposed to YouTube
and streaming services by parents
• According to the New Jery State Bar Foundation: YouTube, which boasts 85
percent usership among 12- to 17-year-olds, continues to attract malicious
content even on its platform for children, YouTube Kids.
And then there is AI
• Educators are often worried about students using AI for academic work
• But this issue can often be resolved:
• Lockdown Browser software for in-person exams
• Handwritten in-class work
• A larger issue will be deepfakes
• Cyberbullying
• Image manipulation
• Manipulating events and history
• And more
Deepfakes
• Deepfakes are a type of fake video that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to make an
altered video virtually undetectable by swapping out someone's face and voice with
an imposter's
• With deepfake videos, algorithms are used to recognize actual audio or visual
aspects of a person and then, like with Photoshop, an actual video of that person is
doctored to replace what they said or did with a false video clip that mimics them
• It's nearly impossible to know that the video isn't real
The problem
• Deepfakes allow for new kinds of blackmail, cyberbullying, electoral
manipulation, and inflaming social tensions
• A bigger problem?
• The liar's dividend
• Once the public is aware of the possibility of deepfakes, it allows
“liars” to claim that an accurate video is just a deepfake.
Can’t Detect
• Congress is struggling to agree on how to regulate AI in general including deepfake
technology
• There are no sure-fire way to detect a deepfake
• There are ways to get around software that detects fakes
• Suggested solutions:
• Technological watermarking, legal bans, ongoing surveillance by trusted independent
third-party organizations, digital signatures on videos, and knowing where a video
came from and who created it
• More critical analysis in education – media literacy
The future
• In the next few years manipulations will no longer be limited to a single image or video
• Entire events could be fabricated with images, videos, and audio from multiple views and
locations, with overwhelming amounts of false evidence
• Young people often lack media literacy skills and firsthand experience with events
• This could lead to riots, political unrest, or even prompt militaries to act, all on bad
information
• We rely heavily on visuals to help understand the world
• If trust is undermined and we can no longer trust media, we will have difficulty believing all forms of
communications
• You could change history
Why is the Social Media question so difficult?
• There is tremendous money in Social Media and the Internet
• Social Media and online companies have tremendous influence and want
to maintain their influence
• Social Media is part of our every day lives including teens
• Social Media has become a political issue
• Not enough is known by the public about how these companies operate
• And because the public doesn’t understand, they are looking at those in charge
What is needed?
• Greater media literacy and Social Media literacy
• Positive that Florida was the first state to require students in the state in grades 6
through 12 to learn social media literacy
• An understanding that Social Media does not represent the real world
• For big tech to be more transparent
• Terms of Services policies that are clear and easy to understand for the
user
Final Thought
• We are looking in the rearview mirror
• Social Media is two-dimensional on our phones and computers
• Increased computer processing and faster internet speeds will decrease latency and allow for
haptic applications
• We will have autonomous vehicles and remote surgeries
• AI is used and will continue to be used for customer service
• Replacing in-store workers and office workers in call centers
• Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) is being used for shopping
• To try on glasses or clothes, or to see how furniture will fit in your home
• Virtual Reality (VR) combined with AI is the future of human communication
• We were just trained on Zoom, but the future in VR and companies like Meta are leading the technology
Presentation 2
Social Media and the Mental Health
of Young People
Thomas Joiner, Ph.D.
The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Florida State University
joiner@psy.fsu.edu
My Take on the State of Evidence
-Anecdotal: Very worrying
-Correlational: Worrying
-Experimental/Causal: Reason
for Worry but Not Yet
Definitive
16
14
Bipolar
12
Suicidal ideation or
% with diagnosis
10
attempt
8
Self-harm
6
Depressive disorder
4
2 Anxiety disorder
0
Hours a day screen time
2.3
2.2
depressive symptoms item mean
2.1
Females Males
2
1.9
1.8
Year
Presentation 4
Solving The Social Dilemma: Improving
Social Media to Improve Youth Mental
Health
Zach Rausch
Associate Research Scientist
New York University
With support from Jonathan Haidt
March 25, 1911
Triangle
Shirtwaist
Factory
Manhattan, NYC
No Safety Regulations
● No fire drills
● No sprinkler systems
● Few entrances and
exists
● Doors locked to
prevent unauthorized
breaks
● Highly flammable
materials (e.g., use of
gas lamps)
HUNliRED AND · FIFTY PERI H IN FACTORY FIRE;
WOMEN AND GIRLS TRAPPED. IN TEN STORY BUILDING
LOST IN FLAMES 0R Hi.f.RL THEMSELVE -TO DEATH•
It was preventable
How did we let this happen…
so many times?
Any factory that improved conditions
were at a
competitive disadvantage
Collective Action Problem
A situation where an action would be
beneficial to many people, yet if only one
person takes the action while others do not,
it becomes too costly for that individual
This makes it unlikely that any individual
can or would undertake action to solve it
Collective Action Solutions
Collective Action Solutions
Activism
Government Action
38 New Labor Safety Laws
A Century of Reform
21st Century Fires
Flames rage less in factories… …now mostly behind screens
Millions of new adolescent and young adult “workers” for
social media companies that has caused a
mental illness epidemic
Viewing Engaging Posting
To hook other users and increase time spent on platform
Customer Product Customer
More Accurately: Attention is the product
Attention is in short supply
information
comp et' tion for attention
~ • • ••
attention
··••i••······························································································································•
Business Model Leads to…
Development of addictive features that harm
users
Competition for younger and younger users
Infinite Scroll Push Notifications Addictive Design
What about the companies that don’t do this?
Remember AOL
messenger? Friendster Path
Me neither
But this did
And set the standard for all to come…
Extraordinary Harm to Users, Especially Young Users
Companies know what they are doing
Yet do nothing…
Why?
Because any company that does the right thing loses to
the company that makes the sleazy move.
They would be at a competitive disadvantage
Collective Action Problem
Collective Action Solutions
Assumption
Social Media is a Major Driver of the Adolescent
Mental Health Crisis
Pattern With 5 Parts
1. Mental health deteriorates in the early 2010s
2. Hits girls harder than boys
3. Internalizing disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression)
4. Hits adolescents harder than adults (and hits Gen Z harder than other
generations)
5. International in scope
Major Depression Among Teens
Girls
145% increase since 2010
Girls Boys
161% increase since 2010
Boys
SOURCE: U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Major Depression Among U.S. Teens
Girls
145% increase since 2010
Boys
161% increase since 2010
SOURCE: U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Emergency Department Visits for
Nonfatal Self-harm (Ages 10-14)
Girls
188% increase since 2010
Boys
48% increase since 2010
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
U.S. Suicide Rates (Ages 10-14)
Boys
91.2% increase
since 2010
Girls
167.4% increase
since 2010
SOURCE: CDC Wisqars Fatal Injury Reports
What Can Explain All Five Parts?
Here are 13 Other Explanations For The
Adolescent Mental Health Crisis. None of Them
Work.
JEAN M. TWENGE
OCT 24, 2023
Our Explanation:
Play-Based to Phone-Based Childhood
2010-2015
Smartphones and Social Media Explain the Pattern
Smartphones and Social Media Fit The Timing
Share of U.S. Households Using Specific Technologies (1925-2019)
Migration to
the Digital
World
Smartphone
Radio 2009-2011
Personal
computer was the core
period of
Social Media movement
Color TV Internet for teens
SOURCE: Our World in Data, 2023
Smartphones and Social Media Explains the Sex Difference
Smartphones and Social Media Explains the Sex
Difference and the Disorders
Percent of UK Teens Depressed as a Function of Hours
per Weekday on Social Media
Girls Correlational studies:
Heavy users have twice
the rate of depression as
light users
Boys
SOURCE: Millennium Cohort Study.
Kelly (2018)
Smartphones and Social Media Explains the Age Difference
Females: 11–13
Males: Ages 14–15
Smartphones and social media explain why it
happened at the same time and in the same way in so
many countries
Young People Agree
Young Australians' Views on the Cause of the
Decline in Youth Mental Health
Social media 37%
Expectations from family, 18%
school, community
Wori< O< study pre$SIXII 16%
Political, social,
8%
environmental issues
Bullying 8%
Information technology
(e.g. gaming, the internet)
Interpersonal problems
Stigma 8IOLl1d mental illness
Drugs and alcohol
Methods: Ages 12-25, N = 4,000+
Source: Headspace National Youth Mental
Health Survey, 2018.
If you agree
1. Mental health crisis among youth
2. A primary driver of the crisis is the phone-based
childhood
3. Companies won’t change on their own
(competitive disadvantage for doing so)
Collective Action Solutions
Four Foundational Reforms to Overcome The
Collective Action Problem
1. No Smartphones Until High School (Age 14)
2. No Social Media Until 16
3. Phone Free Schools
4. Much more childhood independence and free play
Four Foundational Reforms to Overcome The
Collective Action Problem
1. No Smartphones Until High School (Age 14)
2. No Social Media Until 16
3. Phone Free Schools
4. Much more childhood independence and free play
Solution 1: Ending the race to get younger users
And their attention
Age Restrictions Design Regulation
Solution 1a: End The Race Through Age Restrictions
Get social media out of middle school and out of puberty.
Ban social media for those under 16
Solution 1b: End The Race Through Design Regulation
Adopt the age-appropriate design code (for those under 18)
Address the root cause of the problem
Solution 1b: End The Race Through Design Regulation
There are 16 standards contained in the code
Examples Include:
1. Best interests of the child
2. Default settings
3. Data minimisation
Parents and Teens are Trapped
Solution 2: Phone-Free Schools
Solution 2: Phone-Free Schools
1. Encouraging schools to go phone free
2. Funding phone lockers and pouches
3. Funding research
Two Big Solutions
1. End The Race To Get Younger Users
2. Phone Free Schools
Hopeless
What seemed impossible was possible
It may seem impossible today
But it is possible.
You can help create the childhood we need for
the 21st century
For data, graphs, and sources:
Jonathanhaidt.com/reviews
For more on smartphones and social media:
jonathanhaidt.com/social-media
For the book and supplementary material:
Jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation
For writing and updates:
afterbabel.com
Collective Action Problems
Trapped
Presentation 5
Stacey Steinberg, Esq.
Master Legal Skills Professor
Director, Center on Children & Families
Supervising Attorney, Gator TeamChild Juvenile Law Clinic
University of Florida Levin College of Law
I am here based on my own views. These do not necessarily represent the views of my employer.
Child Abuse Prosecutor
Parent (three kids ages 10-17)
My DCF Attorney
Background
Photographer
Legal Skills Professor
Sharenting
Have we prepared kids for a digital future?
Children’s
Rights in the
Digital
Environment
United Nations Committee
on the Rights of the Child
(Comment 25)
Know Your Rights! General comment No. 25 (2021) posters, 5Rights Foundation, 2021
Youth Advocacy and Involvement
Kids and Social Media
Risks Benefits
Benefits to Online Connectivity
Connection Information
Creativity Entertainment
Mitigating Risks – Policy Focus Areas
Education/Training for Website Operator
Stakeholders and Kids Responsibility
•Parents •Age-Appropriate
•Schools Design
•Community •Age ratings
5Rights Foundation: https://childonlinesafetytoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5Rights-Child-Online-Safety-Toolkit-English.pdf
Mitigating Risks - Policy Focus Areas
Enforcement Safer Technology
•Notice •Age-Appropriate
•Victim protections Design
•Takedown •Mechanisms for
mechanisms enforcement
5Rights Foundation: https://childonlinesafetytoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5Rights-Child-Online-Safety-Toolkit-English.pdf
• Update child pornography laws:
• Deep fake images depicting child pornography
are not protected by the First Amendment
• Provide parents with a private cause of
Concrete action to sue internet companies that harm
their children.
Legislative • Give young people the right to delete
Action Items information they post and (at times)
information that others post about them
online.
• Gold Seal Recognition
Questions to Consider
WHAT IS THE NATURE WHAT ARE THE
OF THE RISK? CAPACITIES OF THE
YOUNG PERSON?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
HOW DOES THE
OPPORTUNITY BENEFIT
THE YOUNG PERSON?
Social Media and Young People
Privacy Safety
Respect
If young people are not trusted,
they will not learn to trust.
Charles Fried, Privacy, 77 Yale Law Journal 475 (1968)
“We emphasize, however, that surveillance
of children should not be understood as an
inherent or standard practice of good
parenting, but rather as the exception.”
Benjamin Shmeili and Ayelet Blecher-Prigat. Privacy for
Children, 42 Columbia Human Rights Law Review,
759 (2011)
Support Youth Advocacy
and Involvement
Consider creating a Youth Cabinet on Digital/Social Media Safety
Questions?
Please connect with me!
Stacey Steinberg
steinberg@law.ufl.edu
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