'I couldn't lose another friend': Korean teen calls for social media algorithm rules
A petition was submitted to the National Assembly for a bill aimed at preventing teenage addiction to social networking services (SNS) and placing greater responsibility on platform service providers. The petitioner was 18-year-old Choi Kyung-jun. “While companies come up with ways to keep teens addicted to SNS, the responsibility for overcoming that addiction falls on parents and teens…
An 18-year-old Korean teen, Choi Kyung-jun, has called for new regulations on social media algorithms in an effort to prevent teenage addiction to online platforms. Choi submitted a petition to the National Assembly for a bill designed to curb teenage dependency on social networking services (SNS) and hold platform providers more accountable.
Choi argued that while companies work to keep teens hooked on SNS, the onus for overcoming this addiction should fall on parents and young people themselves. In his petition, Choi wrote to Rep. Kim Sun-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party, urging more oversight of the algorithms used by social media companies. He expressed concern over losing another friend to these addictive platforms, lamenting the current measures put in place by the government.
Choi highlighted "smartphone-free schools" and a ban on teens under 14 accessing SNS as government efforts to restrict teenage smartphone and SNS usage. However, Choi claims these regulations primarily place the responsibility on teens to resist the allure of algorithms designed by companies to maximize user engagement and screen time.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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