Digital Youth
The breakneck speeds of tech advancement (literally, when we consider our disfiguring spines) and its deep influence on daily life mean that the youth is exposed to digital products (social media apps, AI chat systems, etc.) that have outpaced regulatory development.
The technology we are building is evolving at a faster rate than us. In fact, it is a double-exponential model: not only is technology accelerating exponentially, but so is its rate of acceleration. Our mental circuitry is playing a losing adaptability game against the tech it is exposed to for prolonged durations, multiple times, daily.
For the generations growing up inside this acceleration - who are still forming their identities, their habits, their sense of reality - there is no precedent to learn from and little regulatory protection to fall back on.
The technology shaping young minds today was not built for them.
It was built faster than anyone could ask whether it should be.
This is the defining stewardship question of our time:
Will we have a say in HOW technology shapes us?
Step 0: Let’s understand the problem
The digital youth pillar distills what we collectively know about digital harm for the youth - not only to inform, but also to compel. Compel digital product makers to build differently. Compel regulators to move faster. Compel ourselves to demand more.
Traditional media (movies, sitcoms, etc.) has required age ratings since 1968. Internet content filters have existed in schools since 2000. And yet, social media has escaped regulatory checks for 2 decades, and we’re perpetuating the same oversight with AI chat systems. For especially the youth, the cost of digital products existing without regulation and accountability (to its users) is generational degradation in mental and physical health.
The evidence is staggering. Brain rot, social media addiction, social media induced depression & anxiety have become recurring news . UNICEF reports that 1 in 3 young people globally has experienced online harassment. The consequences are now being litigated. Yet, digital product makers seek to appeal verdicts that hold them responsible instead of amending their products, while knowing the harm they perpetuate.
The regulatory response is finally arriving but it is fragmented, reactive and lagging: Australia passed the world's most aggressive law in 2024 banning under-16s from social media, with hefty fines for non-compliance13. The EU's Digital Services Act now bans targeted advertising to children and mandates privacy-by-default settings. The UK's Online Safety Act imposes a duty of care on platforms. Indonesia has built a tiered, risk-based system. Malaysia is rolling out licensing and age verification by mid-2026.
And just as quickly as the rate of technology changes, these laws are rendered insufficient. Law enforcement is inconsistent and platforms game the system.
Step #1: Join us in taking action
The Users Union exists to close the gap between what digital product makers know about the harm they cause and what they are currently required to do about it. Here’s where we're aiming on 3 fronts.
Safety as a prerequisite, not an afterthought
Safety is currently an afterthought in digital product development. It gets worse when this afterthought too is superficial peacocking designed to gain trust without transparency, while the underlying architecture remains extractive. We are all, collectively, unwitting beta testers of detrimental algorithms.
What would age-appropriate design actually look like if platforms prioritized well-being over engagement metrics? This pillar advocates for evidence-based safeguards to be the norm for all digital products: opt-in content controls rather than opt-out defaults, algorithmic transparency, prohibition of dark patterns, mandatory cooling-off periods for account creation among other design choices. We need design that respects, rather than exploits, cognitive development stages.Sharpen the user: critical thinking as infrastructure
The antidote to invisible algorithmic manipulation requires sharper users. In this era where digital products are optimized for engagement, data mining and behavioural nudges; where increasingly more thought work is being delegated to AI - critical thinking is a survival skill for the youth. A skill to differentiate when they’re being informed vs manipulated by their digital products. A skill to equip them to question the world order and hold it responsible to higher & better standards.
What does sharpening critical thinking look like in practice? Who delivers it, through what mechanisms, and how does it interact with the algorithmic environments already surrounding young people? The digital youth pillar seeks to answer these questions in collaboration with educators, guardians and the youth themselves.Reclaim the default
While we build towards structural change, reclaiming agency over our own digital life is both a personal and political act of refusing to be passively mined. This pillar seeks to build effective frameworks for balancing digital & analog activities.
What might balance look like in practice?
Balancing global social media with deliberate local socialization (in person, in-community) where personal presence has a direct impact on personal life.
Offsetting online consumption with offline creation - art, business, connections, etc.
Periodically, disconnecting fully as a reminder that the digital world is optional.
Such acts of resistance are necessary to keep our demand for structural change honest.
There’s much work to do.
The tech industry has a long way to go - in improving HOW they serve the digital youth - and so do we.
The users of technology are its largest, most consequential stakeholder group and one that has never been fully mobilized.
Until now. Watch this space and better yet, help build it.