This letter, by way of Vihaan Miriyala, 15, of John F. Kennedy Top College, Fremont, Calif., is likely one of the winners of The Studying Community’s Student Open Letter Contest, for which we gained 11,185 entries. You’ll in finding the paintings of the entire winners, as we submit them, here.
To the Honorable Individuals of the U.S. Senate,
I’m writing to you now not as a coverage professional, however as a member of the primary era rising up with social media. Each morning I’ve a regimen — earlier than I’m even absolutely conscious, I achieve for my telephone and groggily undergo my socials one at a time: first Instagram, then TikTok, after which Snapchat. It’s a unending loop of brainrot I by no means requested for, and but one I will’t appear to surrender regardless of how laborious I take a look at. Taking a look round my highschool, it’s evident it’s now not simply me who’s going through this quandary. I realize the similar habitual patterns amongst many fellow teenagers — hunched backs, consistent notifications, and actual conversations going unnoticed.
However is that this dependancy to social media truly as a result of we lack self-discipline, or is it as a result of those platforms are deliberately designed to circumvent our strength of will and stay us addicted? A contemporary Los Angeles landmark trial discovered Meta to be negligent and held that they needed to pay $4.2 million in damages for designing platforms, together with Instagram, that have been intentionally addictive to younger customers. And it’s now not simply Instagram. One interior e mail from a Snapchat worker described Snapstreaks, the function everyone knows and love, as having led to “mass psychosis” amongst customers and that the force to stay a Snapstreak going used to be harming wholesome social interplay. It will have to come as no surprise that TikTok could also be a perpetrator right here. Interior paperwork unsealed in a 2024 Kentucky lawsuit divulge the corporate knew its set of rules may get you hooked in as low as 35 mins — highlighting that this design is constructed to profit from our adolescent brains to stay us scrolling for hours on finish.
Those corporations are exploiting our lives for benefit, rising wealthier whilst we transform extra depending on their platforms day-to-day. Unknowingly, we’re changing into slaves to their algorithms, dropping our time and freedom in order that they are able to maximize their income. In the end, we aren’t the shoppers of those apps however moderately the goods being bought to the very best bidder.
A number of nations have already identified this chance and handed regulations limiting or banning social media. In December 2025, Australia was the primary to put into effect a national ban for all kids below 16 and not using a parental exceptions. Their executive said that the dangers posed by way of social media some distance outweighed the perceived advantages of virtual connectivity for younger, prone minds. Different nations reminiscent of France, Spain and Malaysia have adopted swimsuit, and feature offered or are debating equivalent age-based restrictions for addictive platforms. Alternatively, the USA stays caught in legislative battles, failing to move regulations limiting or banning social media regardless of having top charges of psychological well being struggles and dependancy.
