In June 2018, at its WWDC Apple announced new features in its next iOS, which will help monitor and control screen time, in an effort to improve focus and reduce addiction. A similar move was announced by Google for its Android OS, in May 2018. Smartphone addiction has recently started to become a hot topic for policymakers. The fact that the biggest OS providers have started taking action shows how important it is to tackle this issue; social media platforms now need to take similar steps, to avoid prescriptive regulation and to make sure they do not suffer reputational damage. We have captured these developments as part of our ongoing research into Fake News, which shows social media companies still have a lot to do in this respect.
The two biggest technology companies have made almost simultaneous moves
It did not take too long for Apple and Google to take action, after prominent business figures had come out against devices addiction. At the last World Economic Forum, in November 2017, Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff went as far as saying that social media could require regulation in the same way as the cigarette industry. More recently, in January 2018, Apple’s shareholders urged the company to do something against screen addiction among children; soon after, statements from Apple’s CEO Tim Cook echoed investors’ concerns, and hinted at discouraging young people’s use of social media.
Apple’s newly announced iOS12 is now addressing some of these concerns. It has some new tools to give users more control on how they interact with their devices. Of those, the most noteworthy is Screen Time, which provides a breakdown of the time spent on apps and websites, and tools to control them. Parents can also control their child’s device and schedule times to limit use. Notifications are also more easily silenced or turned off, and can be grouped to be seen all at once. Weeks earlier, in May 2018, Google had announced similar features for the upcoming Android P. Stating that “technology should help you with your life, not distract you from it”, Google introduced features such as a new Dashboard, which shows how users are spending time on their device, including time spent in apps, how many times they have unlocked your phone, and how many notifications they received. An App Timer lets users set time limits on apps, let them know when such limit is approaching, and then gray out the icon to remind them of their goal; enhanced features to the Do Not Disturb mode are also introduced.
Device and OS providers are repositioning themselves, and social media platforms should act quickly
The fact that the two incumbents in the OS market are almost simultaneously introducing these features, to reduce screen time and improve users’ awareness of how they use their own devices, is a clear sign that the interests of these players no longer coincide with content and application providers. They now want to position themselves as those who put users more in control of how they spend their time online, and of how they make sure they do not lose their focus because of social media or other applications.
This is likely to trigger a response from social media platforms and other applications, as no one wants to be seen as the “bad guy in the classroom”. The challenge will now be in the way this will affect existing business models, which are largely based on ways to maximise screen time and, in turn, exposure to content and advertising. At the moment, social media platforms appear unsurprisingly far from taking meaningful action on this.
Facebook, for example, stated in December 2017 that it is investing in research to better understand the relationship between media technologies, youth development, and well-being. However, the company has, for the time being, mainly aimed to shift the experience toward personal interaction, rather than tackling addiction. Facebook will also host a summit during 2018, with academics and industry leaders, to tackle issues related to digital distraction; this suggest that the company is yet to develop a strategy to address these problems.
Policy makers are on the case, and will intervene if companies do not take action
The impact of prolonged screen time on people’s focus and mental health has been under the watch of regulators and policy makers for some time. At present, there are no clear proposals. However, the topic has been the subject of some politicians’ statements in the UK. In April 2018, the Health Secretary stated his intention to take action if social media do not do more to protect children online; in March 2018, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport hinted at the implementation of time cut-offs for children addicted to social media.
Policymakers are also actively gathering evidence, which will likely inform future legislative intervention. The UK Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee is carrying out an inquiry on the impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health,. Even in the DCMS Committee’s inquiry on Fake News, one hearing explored in-depth the way in which the addictive qualities of social media platforms are part of their success.
At present shows that regulatory initiatives to tackle addiction are still nascent, and their shape is still far from clear; however, it is increasingly likely that some form of regulation will be set out, particularly if social media platforms fail to take timely action against all these issues.
