KISDI Examines Social Media Addiction Among Children and Adolescents: Who Should Be Held Responsible? (detail)

※ URL(Korean): https://www.kisdi.re.kr/bbs/view.do?bbsSn=115004&key=m2101113055776&pageIndex=1&sc=&sw=

KISDI Premium Report (2026-06)
Who Is Responsible for Social Media Addiction Among Children and Adolescents? From Individual Responsibility to Platform Design Responsibility

KISDI Examines Social Media Addiction Among Children and Adolescents: Who Should Be Held Responsible?
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▲ Calls for a policy shift from individual responsibility to platform responsibility in addressing social media addiction
▲ Addictive platform features—including infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic recommendations—encourage compulsive use
▲ Reviews international policy approaches based on three models: access regulation, design regulation, and civil liability
▲ Highlights the need for a roadmap for privacy-preserving age assurance technologies
▲ Recommends strengthening interagency cooperation to support effective policy implementation

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI, President Sangkyu Rhee) recently published its **KISDI Premium Report (2026-06)**, *Who Is Responsible for Social Media Addiction Among Children and Adolescents? From Individual Responsibility to Platform Design Responsibility*.

The report argues that today's online environment exposes children and adolescents to risks that differ fundamentally from those encountered offline because of characteristics such as anonymity and constant connectivity. Beyond exposure to harmful content, the report identifies compulsive use driven by platform design as an emerging and significant risk. Such compulsive use has been associated with adverse physical and mental health outcomes among children and adolescents, including sleep deprivation, reduced cognitive performance, anxiety, and depression.

According to the report, these problems are closely related to the attention economy business model adopted by many platform companies, which seeks to maximize advertising revenue by increasing users' time spent on platforms. To capture and retain user attention, platforms intentionally employ design features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and algorithm-driven content recommendations. These design mechanisms may have a greater impact on children and adolescents, whose capacity for self-regulation is still developing.

In response to these concerns, governments around the world are increasingly shifting from policies that emphasize individual responsibility to regulatory approaches that place greater responsibility on platform providers. The report categorizes these approaches into three major models. The first is the **access regulation model**, adopted in countries such as Australia and Indonesia, which restricts or prohibits social media access for children below a specified age. The second is the **design regulation model**, implemented in jurisdictions including New York State and the European Union, which regulates addictive algorithmic feeds and notifications for minors while requiring platforms to adopt **Safety by Design** principles. The third is the **civil liability model** in the United States, under which platforms may face large-scale civil litigation based on claims that their products are defectively designed.

SeongHoon YOO, Associate Fellow at KISDI and author of the report, presents several policy recommendations for establishing an effective regulatory framework in Korea. First, he recommends carefully evaluating the strengths and limitations of both access regulation and design regulation to identify an approach suited to Korea's policy environment. Second, he emphasizes the need to develop a national roadmap for **age assurance** technologies that balance regulatory effectiveness with privacy protection. Third, he recommends adopting participatory governance mechanisms similar to those used in the United Kingdom and the European Union by incorporating public consultation and the perspectives of young people into the policy development process. Finally, he stresses that social media addiction is a cross-cutting social issue requiring coordinated action and recommends establishing an integrated interagency cooperation framework to support effective policy implementation.

The report is available for download from the KISDI website (http://www.kisdi.re.kr)).

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KISDI Examines Social Media Addiction Among Children and Adolescents: Who Should Be Held Responsible?