Los Angeles Times

Science doesn't yet support broad restrictions on teens' access to social media, experts say

To understand the path forward in regulating social media, it's helpful to look to a transformative technology from the previous century: the car. A car is an essential tool for getting places we want and need to go. It's also an exceptionally powerful one that can be dangerous if handled irresponsibly. We require education and training for people who want to drive them. We insist that ...
This illustration photo shows the Facebook logo on a smartphone in front of a computer screen in Los Angeles on Aug. 12, 2021.

To understand the path forward in regulating social media, it's helpful to look to a transformative technology from the previous century: the car.

A car is an essential tool for getting places we want and need to go. It's also an exceptionally powerful one that can be dangerous if handled irresponsibly.

We require education and training for people who want to drive them. We insist that companies build in safety features, which are updated over time as research and technology advance.

And when young people come of age and want to get behind the wheel, "we would never dream of allowing them near a car where we didn't have safety standards for the vehicles and where we, a Boston University physician and epidemiologist.

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