This is an interesting legal development overseas that has potential repercussions for NZ, particularly in light of the proposed social media ban for teenagers.

As a teacher I can’t stress enough how harmful I think this ‘engagement bait’ social media is for our kids. It’s addictive for adults too, but theoretically they’re better equipped to understand what they’re getting into.

Over the past decade I’ve seen steadily declining literacy rates and I attribute this directly to the increase in screen time, particularly of short-form content like Instagram and TikTok and the algorithmic feed that Facebook provides, and the corresponding reduction in book-reading that our children engage in. It’s scary.

I’m interested to see whether this kind of finding sticks and is replicated elsewhere, and if it turns into the kind of fight that tobacco companies engaged in back in the day, where they were gradually forced to rein themselves in bit by bit with their similarly addictive product.