Since the 2010s, in Hungary and in Europe as a whole, the mental health of the younger generation has deteriorated spectacularly, largely due to smartphones and their increasing use. Under European Union legislation passed at the end of August 2023, the biggest online platforms, from Facebook to TikTok, must provide the European Commission with insight: they must give the Commission all the information it needs on how their algorithms protect minors’ mental health, and they must take concrete action.
444! took it to the streets to ask young people directly about how their lives are affected by technology, and talked to media researcher Ádám Guld to understand how these effects can be mitigated.
