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Legislating Social Media Addiction: Brainstorm Health

There’s a presidential primary debate on tonight (and I imagine at least a few readers will be checking in on it, given an expected focus on health care).

But let’s check in on a more low-key, and likely quixotic, policy quest aligned with the digital health space. A freshman U.S. Senator (Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican), has proposed legislation that would ban “addictive” features on social media platforms.

The Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act (or, well, the SMART Act) would prevent some of the big tech names like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter from using algorithmic means to feed on their very human users’ propensity for spending hours upon hours on said platforms (behavior that hasn’t exactly been linked with great mental health outcomes).

This might include the use of auto-play videos, or “infinite scrolling” (wherein your digital wormhole literally has no end), or programmable behavior encouraging users to constantly engage.

Whether such a piece of legislation has a snowball’s chance in passing – and even if it does, whether it would pass constitutional muster – well, that’s a whole different story. But perhaps one that will appear in the endless social media loop.

Read on for the day’s news.

Sy Mukherjee, @the_sy_guy, sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com



from Fortune https://ift.tt/2GC2bWS
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