<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">For a brainy day</h2>

In the early 18th Century, panic swept Great Britain. Public order was breaking down, children being abandoned by their parents, thousands falling into poverty and despair. The culprit was gin, a cheap and potent spirit that had become extremely popular amongst the poor. By 1743, the average person in England was drinking 10 litres of gin every year.

The gin craze was followed by a series of other drug panics: opiumAn addictive drug made from the juice of the opium poppy. , psychedelicsDrugs that can change your perceptions, for example causing hallucinations., cannabis. Now some think we are in the grip of a new one. But this time the culprit is not drinks or pills, but apps.

Almost 60% of people aged 13 to 17 in the US say they use YouTube several times a day. Just under 20% report they are using it near constantly. The figures for TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram are similar.¹

Researchers are finding that this much social media use has effects that are just as devastating as other drugs in history, especially on mental health. The number of children and young people being referred to mental health services has risen by 77% since 2019.²

Experts believe that prolonged social media use makes young people more sensitive to feedback from others. This exacerbates feelings of anxiety and depression.

Social media algorithmsAny set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, "the algorithm" refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them. are also primed to show young people content that can damage their self-image. There have been reports of children developing eating disorders because of posts they saw on social media.

And the sites are designed to be addictive. Human brains are wired to get a hit of dopamineA hormone and neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body, providing us with positive sensations, rewarding us for evolutionarily good behaviours like eating food. from triggering a random outcome. That is why gambling machines get people hooked. Refreshing a social media feed, or waiting for another TikTok video to come up, hits the same part of the brain.

Now one thinker believes we need stronger laws to protect us from these harms. In a new book, Professor Nita Farahany claims we should have an official set of rights to keep Big Tech from meddling with our brains.

The problem, she argues, is not just the effects that algorithms and addictive content are already having on our brains. It is that technology is accelerating faster than we can possibly keep up with.

Farahany worries that before we know it, companies will have developed much more intrusive technologies.

Elon Musk's Neuralink and Facebook parent company Meta are both working on programmes that read thoughts directly. Other companies are developing drugs that are supposed to speed up our brains.

Farahany says the brain must have legal protections from these technologies. She argues it is the one space where we have true privacy, and can develop our sense of identity.

Other experts, however, say this is getting ahead of ourselves. They insist there is not enough evidence that Big Tech really is affecting our brains.

The last few years have seen a spike in social media use, they say, but it has also seen a pandemic that prevented children from going to school and, in some cases, robbed them of beloved family members. Little wonder, they argue, so many are depressed and anxious.

Yes: Our brain is the most precious thing we have. If we are not careful, it will become yet another thing for Big Tech to commodifyMake into a sellable product. and control. We need legal guarantees for our mental privacy.

No: The evidence that Big Tech is really hijacking our brains is not all that strong. A set of specific rights to protect our heads might only cause confusion.

Or... There is no such thing as a brain that is not influenced by any external force. We are who we are because of the influences that imprint themselves on us, willingly or not. It is silly to worry too much about controlling them.

Opium - An addictive drug made from the juice of the opium poppy. 

Psychedelics - Drugs that can change your perceptions, for example causing hallucinations.

Algorithms - Any set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, "the algorithm" refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them.

Dopamine - A hormone and neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body, providing us with positive sensations, rewarding us for evolutionarily good behaviours like eating food.

Commodify - Make into a sellable product.