Legal Institute for Complaints of Victims of Social Networks Launched – Mehr News Agency | Iran and world’s news

According to the Mehr reporter; An important debate these days is the challenge of whether social platforms have taken sufficient action to address cyberbullying. Now a law firm is looking to solve this problem.

Matthew Bergman, founder of the Bergman Institute, a law firm in Seattle, announced this month that it has set up a legal center to support victims of social media.

He claims that this is the first center that focuses exclusively on advocacy and representation of families whose children have been harmed in various ways through social media.

“Currently, the devastating effects of defective social platforms can be seen in the staggering rates of teen suicide, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm,” Bergman told Forbes.

The company seeks to force large social media companies to accept responsibility and pay damages for the harm they do to their families and children, so that they can gradually seek safer products in a more environmentally friendly environment to protect their economic interests. . »

Bergman went on to say how bullying on social media can have far more catastrophic consequences than face-to-face and physical harassment in the physical space.

“Bullying on social media can be far more destructive than other types of bullying because of the addictive nature of social platforms,” ​​he said.

Psychologists and psychiatrists agree that social networks such as gambling and other known addictions have a high potential for addiction. For example, Facebook internal documents acknowledge that 8 to 12 percent of the platform’s customers have an Internet addiction problem.

“As it turns out, all harassing behaviors, and in particular bullying, are harmful, while the nature and structure of online social platforms continue to drive victims to such harmful behaviors,” he added.

Bergman then referred to the horrific effects and bullying injuries inflicted on his victims, which have been fully substantiated by academic evidence.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide among adolescents increased by 57% between 2008 and 2018.

“Depression rates among teens have doubled in the last decade and continue to rise,” Bergman said. Disorders such as eating disorders and self-harm are also on the rise. “This statistic has been on the rise since 2008, when teens started using social media and using it, and has not declined since.”

According to the founder of the law firm, the company will do its utmost to pursue the legal claims of vulnerable groups in cyberspace. However, the ultimate goal will never be to eliminate the use of social media or to discourage adolescents and young people from participating in these platforms, and instead we strive to make the platforms accountable when such problems arise.

According to Bergman, social networks can also have a positive impact on cyberspace, and there is no reason why platforms should not design a more secure system. The dangers of online social platforms now outweigh its positive effects.

At the end of the talk, Bergman made suggestions about the expected changes to the design and performance of the platforms. These suggestions include:

• A user-based authentication system that contains information such as age and تا to ensure that users are who they claim to be.

• Adequate warning to parents about the potential harms of social platforms that threaten children and adolescents and the limited amount of time and hours that children and adolescents are allowed to access these platforms.

• Prohibit access to inappropriate content for such users, as well as informing parents in the event of any possible abuse to which children and adolescents are exposed.

Such efforts to limit and frame the behavior of technology companies and social platforms can have dramatic effects on improving this environment. However, achieving these grand goals requires modifying algorithms to prevent vulnerable teens and children from being directed to inappropriate content.