Last week the heads of several technology companies including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, came before a Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington D.C. due to allegations that these companies have built their products with addictive features that harm young users. The Wall Street Journal reported that senators from both political parties “grilled tech CEOs over how their algorithms affect minors and said they must bear more legal liability when children are harmed online.” While the companies deny the intentionality behind these “addictive features,” harm is being done to children, regardless of where the blame rests.
In a 2023 report, the U.S. Surgeon General acknowledged that despite universal social media use among teenagers (95%) and children aged 8-12 (40%), we do not yet have enough evidence to determine if social media use is sufficiently safe for them – especially during adolescence, a particularly vulnerable period of brain development. The report goes on to cite that children and adolescents on social media are commonly exposed to extreme, inappropriate, or harmful content and that those who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of poor mental health including symptoms of depression and anxiety.
As Christians, we know that sin is the root cause of these addictions leading to the harm our children are experiencing. In Romans 7, Paul says, “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness” and goes on to say that it “deceived me and through it killed me.” Our flesh is weak, and it may be argued that our children’s flesh may be even more susceptible to deception as they have less experience with the trials and tribulations of life that strengthen and train us.
It is reported that these algorithms only need to know how long users pause when viewing content to know what material to target. The algorithm isn’t evil in itself, but the sinful users who are contributing content and viewing content feed the algorithm. Much like our battle with sin, if we repeatedly commit the same sin, our conscience becomes seared, and we begin to become numb to it and its effects. Paul goes on to say, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but do the very thing I hate. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, this, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
The writer of Proverbs tells us to “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?” We can no longer say that we didn’t know the harm that unsupervised social media may cause to our children.
Paul concludes Romans 7 by saying “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Thanks indeed!
In Christ,
Scott King
Elder
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