CTRL Panel
When I created my Facebook account in early 2006, it was essentially a digital address book. There was no news feed, like button, or recommendation algorithm. No autoplay video, infinite scroll, or AI slop.
A profile page offered useful information about your friends — their birthdays, hometowns, favorite movies and music, and whether they were single, dating, or “it’s complicated.”
Facebook in 2006 was designed to deepen social connection. Facebook (and Instagram) in 2026 are more likely to substitute for social connection — an endless, sometimes regrettable scroll of sponsored content by influencers and “conflict entrepreneurs.”
The difference between Facebook in 2006 and 2026 — whether it supports or supplants your friendships — is a reminder that social media is not inherently harmful, so long as it is designed with good intentions. But that is not how social media has evolved. A backlash has been building for the past decade, often drawing comparisons to cigarettes.
A more apt metaphor is the bicycle, write Claudia del Pozo and Nicté Cabañas:
We know accidents can happen, but no one suggests banning them. We build bike lanes, establish traffic rules, teach people how to use them, promote helmets and knee pads, and demand safety standards. We reduce the risks without giving up their benefits.
Last week’s settlement between Meta and 48 U.S. states is the largest test whether design regulations can reduce the harms of social media for adolescents by:
limiting teenagers to two hours a day and silencing notifications during school hours;
disabling like counts and “make-up filters;”
notifying users after they’ve spent 15 consecutive minutes on the site;
giving the option to disable algorithmic personalization of feeds;
restricting adults from messaging or viewing the content of teenagers.
They are meaningful changes that some critics say still don’t go far enough. And their implementation largely depends on whether teenagers find a way around Meta’s undefined age verification methods.
While teens won’t be able to change the new default settings without permission from a parent, Meta doesn’t have a foolproof system for preventing teens from creating—or asking someone else to create—a fake parental account, according to reporting by Julie Jargon.
Alternatively, teens could simply migrate to other platforms with fewer restrictions, like TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord. Meta issued an open letter to TikTok and YouTube calling on them to join in the deal by implementing the same design changes and paying a fine.1
If successful, the settlement could be the first step toward an industry standard that reduces the harms of social media while preserving benefits. Beyond social media, the same design regulation approach could come to online gambling, gaming, and pornography.
For more context, see my podcast interview with Pete Chapman of the Knight-Georgetown Institute:
Can courts redesign addictive tech?
Peter Chapman is Associate Director with the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) at Georgetown University. He’s one of the most interesting thinkers on the intersection between tech policy, design, and the law. In this week’s episode, we discuss:
The Feed
Microtransaction spending in video games is concentrated among a small, mostly male group
An Austrian study finds the top 10% of paying adolescent players account for 61.4% of expenditure and that boys are overrepresented. Boys spent more on average than girls (€181 versus €102 annually), represented 82% of heavy spenders, and had roughly twice the odds of being heavy spenders after accounting for age and gaming-disorder symptoms. This is not evidence that in-game purchases are harmful to every boy, but it does identify a small, overwhelmingly male group whose very high spending overlaps with indicators of problematic gaming.2
Feeling unseen may link disconnection with adolescent addictive behaviors
Two studies of Israeli teenagers examine a “sense of absence”—the feeling of inner emptiness, disconnection, and being unseen. The first developed and validated a measure among 1,555 teenagers ages 14–18, finding higher scores associated with loneliness, suicidal thoughts, and problematic online behaviors, and with lower hope and self-compassion. A follow-up study of 2,564 adolescents found that this sense of absence was the strongest bridging signal between insecure attachment, poor communication with parents, and behaviors including problematic gaming, social-media and smartphone use, substance use, and gambling. The studies are cross-sectional and do not establish causation, but they suggest prevention should address not only what adolescents are doing, but whether they feel connected, recognized, and valued.
Predicting Sports Betting Intentions Among Adolescents (PDF)
Adolescent sports-betting intentions are associated primarily with two beliefs: that betting is worthwhile or rewarding, and that peers commonly do it. These pathways were broadly similar for boys and girls, although boys reported greater intentions to bet. The study surveyed 1,215 secondary-school students (719 girls and 491 boys) aged 13–19 in Belgium. Most came from relatively advantaged backgrounds and academically oriented schools. Higher perceived household income predicted lower intentions among girls, but had no significant relationship among boys. Overall, intentions to bet were low: 77.4% selected the lowest response on every intention item.
Policy
Maryland Tax Court invalidates the first digital advertising tax in the U.S.
The court held that Maryland’s tax on large companies’ digital-advertising revenue violated the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act because comparable offline advertising was not taxed. It also found problems because tax rates were tied to companies’ global revenue and identified an additional First Amendment problem. Maryland had projected approximately $250 million annually for K–12 education. Similar digital ad taxes are set to go into effect on January 1st in Utah and Illinois, though both are facing active litigation.
Ninth Circuit decision sets up the Supreme Court to weigh in on prediction markets
A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel upheld the removal of an injunction that had protected Kalshi from Nevada gaming enforcement, concluding that its sports event contracts are likely not “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act. The court concluded that the contracts function like ordinary sports bets and create consumer risk rather than hedge existing financial risk. The decision conflicts with a Third Circuit ruling that treated similar event contracts as swaps, increasing the likelihood of Supreme Court review. Here’s analysis from AIBM’s own, Jonathan D. Cohen:
What else we’re reading
Five questions I’m asking after the Meta settlement by Tech and Social Cohesion
Adults distinguish social media restrictions from school AI bans by Ipsos3
The Context of the Crisis Facing Young Men by Joe Davis
NFL renews the visibility of sportsbook brands (NFL announcement)
Gen Z Is Mistaking Sports Betting for Investing by Allison Schrager
Canadian securities regulator says sports- and entertainment-based event contracts should not be regulated as securities or derivatives and that regulated dealers should not facilitate them.4
Events & Funding Opportunities
Civic Innovators Fellowship, deadline Sept. 4 — a free virtual program for ages 13–18
Learned Behavior: How Youth Digital Life Shapes Moral Development | Online | September 17
Family Online Safety Institute Conference | Washington, D.C. | November 19, 2026
What did we miss this week? Do you have an upcoming conference or study we could feature in the next edition? Do you have an intuition about how pathways into problematic gambling may have changed over the past decade? Let us know at bmonline@substack.com, or shoot me a message here.
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$5.3 billion of Meta’s settlement payment is contingent on TikTok and YouTube adopting specified protections and making matching payments.
Important limitations include its cross-sectional design, reliance on self-reported annual spending, and inability to distinguish among different kinds of microtransactions. It shows associations, not that microtransactions cause gaming or gambling disorders.
Across 31 countries, support for restricting children’s social-media access rose, while far fewer respondents favored banning AI in schools. Seventy-three percent support banning social media for children under 14, with support rising in almost every country since 2024. Only 39% favor banning AI in schools, suggesting greater openness to educational uses of AI.
This is formal guidance, not a new statute, but it strengthens the international case for regulating gambling products by function rather than label. In a related commentary, Dustin Gouker connects the Texas Medical Association’s 21-plus recommendation for gambling with similar proposals from leagues, advocacy groups and states, clarifying the emerging age-regulation coalition around prediction markets.
The microtransaction stat is wild — boys 2x more likely to be heavy spenders. Feels like the same discipline muscle as money in general: nobody teaches you to notice a small recurring cost until it's already a habit. Appreciate you pulling stats like this together weekly.