Social Media Harms

Research

(2024) A Digital Pandemic: Uncovering the Role of ‘Yahoo Boys’ in the Surge of Social Media-Enabled Financial Sextortion Targeting Minors

(2022) Deadly by Design: TikTok pushes harmful content promoting eating disorders and self-harm into young users’ feeds

(2022) Online Communities of Adolescents and Young Adults Celebrating, Glorifying, and Encouraging Self-Harm and Suicide are Growing Rapidly on Twitter

(2022) Specification curve analysis shows that social media use is linked to poor mental health, especially among girls

(2020) Increases in Depression, Self‐Harm, and Suicide Among U.S. Adolescents After 2012 and Links to Technology Use: Possible Mechanisms

(2019) Effects of exposure to self-harm on social media: Evidence from a two-wave panel study among young adults

(2018) Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study

In The Media

Statement of Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen. 
“Facebook became a $1 trillion company by paying for its profits with our safety, including the safety of our children. And that is unacceptable.”

The Facebook Files: A Wall Street Journal Investigation

'Facebook Inc. knows, in acute detail, that its platforms are riddled with flaws that cause harm, often in ways only the company fully understands. That is the central finding of a Wall Street Journal series, based on a review of internal Facebook documents, including research reports, online employee discussions and drafts of presentations to senior management.'

Collective Shout Campaigner Lyn Swanson Kennedy Featured on ABC’s Four Corners

The fan site authorities say is 'profiting from the exploitation and sexualisation of children'

'Social media is housing an online underworld where young girls' photos and videos are being "exploited" and consumed by men.'

Rising concern around 'kidfluencers'

'One of the ways some parents try to support their young daughter's dancing, gymnastics, modelling or other ambitions is by promoting them on social media.
But there's increasing concern around the rise of kidfluencers - children used to sell products online - with accounts stalked with explicit sexualised comments, and some parents selling access to sexualised content of their teenage daughters.'

Why Australia is Setting a Minimum Age of 16 for Creating Social Media Accounts

‘Australia’s social media age minimum will reduce the online harms that are affecting young people…And it will stop social media companies from continuing to use predatory business practices to take advantage of vulnerable young people.’

Why Australian parents and experts are pushing to raise the age for social media access to 16

'Australian children are facing an unprecedented health crisis. Now, experts and parents are calling for change.'

Meta failing young girls: Our investigations in the media

'Social media giants are failing to crack down on paedophiles who steal photos of child influencers and use them on fake profiles to network with others who have a sexual interest in children.'

Instagram and Twitter failing to crack down on paedophiles stealing photos of child influencers

'Campaigners have accused big tech firms of 'absolutely failing children' by allowing users who appear to be interested in child exploitation to operate on their platforms.'