A recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that TikTok floods child and adolescent users with videos of rapid weight loss methods, including tips on how to consume less than 300 calories a day and promoting a “corpse bride diet,” showing emaciated girls with protruding bones. The investigation involved the creation of a dozen automated accounts registered as 13-year-olds and revealed that TikTok algorithms fed adolescents tens of thousands of weight-loss videos within just a few weeks of joining the platform. Emerging research indicates that these practices extend well beyond TikTok to other social media platforms that engage millions of U.S. youth on a daily basis.Social media algorithms that push extreme content to vulnerable youth are linked to an increase in mental health problems for adolescents, including poor body image, eating disorders, and suicidality. Policy measures must be taken to curb this harmful practice. The Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED), a research program based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital, has assembled a diverse team of scholars, including experts in public health, neuroscience, health economics, and law with specialization in First Amendment law, to study the harmful effects of social media algorithms, identify the economic incentives that drive social media companies to use them, and develop strategies that can be pursued to regulate social media platforms’ use of algorithms. For our study, we have examined a critical mass of public health and neuroscience research demonstrating mental health harms to youth. We have conducted a groundbreaking economic study showing nearly $11 billion in advertising revenue is generated annually by social media platforms through advertisements targeted at users 0 to 17 years old, thus incentivizing platforms to continue their harmful practices. We have also examined legal strategies to address the regulation of social media platforms by conducting reviews of federal and state legal precedent and consulting with stakeholders in business regulation, technology, and federal and state government.While nationally the issue is being scrutinized by Congress and the Federal Trade Commission, quicker and more effective legal strategies that would survive constitutional scrutiny may be implemented by states, such as the Age Appropriate Design Code Act recently adopted in California, which sets standards that online services likely to be accessed by children must follow. Another avenue for regulation may be through states mandating that social media platforms submit to algorithm risk audits conducted by independent third parties and publicly disclose the results. Furthermore, Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which has long shielded social media platforms from liability for wrongful acts, may be circumvented if it is proven that social media companies share advertising revenues with content providers posting illegal or harmful content.Our research team’s public health and economic findings combined with our legal analysis and resulting recommendations, provide innovative and viable policy actions that state lawmakers and attorneys general can take to protect youth from the harms of dangerous social media algorithms.

中文翻译：

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算法、成瘾和青少年心理健康：一项跨学科研究，为保护青少年免受社交媒体危险的州级政策行动提供信息

《华尔街日报》最近的一项调查显示，TikTok 向儿童和青少年用户提供了大量快速减肥方法的视频，包括如何每天摄入低于 300 卡路里的热量的技巧，以及宣传“僵尸新娘饮食”，展示瘦骨嶙峋、骨头突出的女孩。调查涉及创建十几个以 13 岁儿童身份注册的自动帐户，并显示 TikTok 算法在青少年加入该平台的短短几周内就向青少年提供了数万个减肥视频。新兴研究表明，这些做法远远超出了 TikTok 的范围，扩展到了每天吸引数百万美国青少年的其他社交媒体平台。向弱势青少年推送极端内容的社交媒体算法与青少年心理健康问题的增加有关，其中包括贫困青少年。身体形象、饮食失调和自杀倾向。必须采取政策措施遏制这种有害做法。预防饮食失调战略培训计划 (STRIPED) 是一项基于哈佛大学陈曾熙公共卫生学院和波士顿儿童医院的研究项目，汇集了多元化的学者团队，包括公共卫生、神经科学、卫生经济学方面的专家，以及专门从事第一修正案的法律，研究社交媒体算法的有害影响，确定推动社交媒体公司使用它们的经济动机，并制定可用于规范社交媒体平台使用算法的策略。在我们的研究中，我们检查了大量的公共卫生和神经科学研究，证明了心理健康对青少年的危害。我们进行了一项开创性的经济研究，显示社交媒体平台每年通过针对 0 至 17 岁用户的广告产生近 110 亿美元的广告收入，从而激励平台继续其有害行为。我们还通过审查联邦和州的法律先例，并与商业监管、技术以及联邦和州政府的利益相关者进行协商，研究了解决社交媒体平台监管问题的法律策略。在全国范围内，国会和议会正在仔细审查这一问题。联邦贸易委员会表示，各州可能会实施更快、更有效的法律策略，以通过宪法审查，例如加利福尼亚州最近通过的《适合年龄的设计规范法案》，该法案规定了儿童可能访问的在线服务必须遵循的标准。另一种监管途径可能是通过国家强制要求社交媒体平台接受独立第三方进行的算法风险审计并公开披露结果。此外，联邦《通信规范法案》第 230 条长期以来一直保护社交媒体平台免受不当行为的责任，如果证明社交媒体公司与发布非法或有害内容的内容提供商分享广告收入，则可能会被规避。我们的研究团队的公共卫生和经济调查结果与我们的法律分析和由此产生的建议相结合，提供了创新和可行的政策行动，国家立法者和总检察长可以采取措施保护青少年免受危险社交媒体算法的伤害。