Holy moral panic, Batman [letter re: AI and comic book censorship]
There are practical problems with restricting minors’ access to social media platforms. But there is also a historical parallel worth considering.
In 1950s America, comic books became the focus of a national moral panic. Critics claimed they were corrupting children, promoting violence and fueling juvenile delinquency. Political pressure eventually produced the Comics Code Authority, a censorship regime that revealed far more about adult anxieties than about comic books.
Social media risks becoming the latest scapegoat.
This is not to deny the dangers of algorithm-driven platforms, especially for adolescents. Artificial intelligence increasingly powers recommendation systems designed to capture attention. But banning teenagers from social media will not prepare them for a future in which digital systems influence nearly every aspect of life.
History suggests that societies rarely resolve cultural anxiety simply by prohibiting the dominant medium of a generation. Rather than trying to shield young people from digital reality, democratic societies should focus on teaching them how to navigate it responsibly.
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