HAIDT'S SOCIAL MEDIA THESIS FACES SCIENTIFIC SCRUTINY

Haidt's 2022 book The Anxious Generation positioned smartphone and social media adoption as the primary driver of rising teen anxiety and depression since 2010. The theory gained rapid traction, inspiring Australia's teen social media ban and uniting Haidt with bereaved parents pursuing legal action against tech companies. Yet emerging research challenges this framework. Multiple studies find weak correlations between social media use and mental health outcomes. Some data suggests the relationship is more complex than cause-and-effect—or even reversed in certain contexts. Critics note that teen mental health declined at different rates across countries with identical social media penetration. Economic stress, pandemic disruption, and sleep deprivation correlate equally well with the timeline. Haidt's work remains influential in policy circles, but the scientific consensus appears more divided than his bestseller status suggests. Policymakers now face pressure to justify restrictions based on evidence rather than intuition.