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Experts tell Assembly algorithms and game design can displace offline pathways for boys
Summary
Researchers told the Select Committee that algorithmic feeds, gambling-like game mechanics and AI companions can amplify risky content and reduce opportunities for offline skill-building; speakers recommended platform design changes and targeted content protections.
Research witnesses told the committee that platform incentives favor short-term engagement and that those incentives can amplify sexualized, violent or extreme content and normalize gambling-like mechanics.
Ravi Iyer of USC said algorithms commonly optimize for observable engagement rather than users' long‑term aspirations: "If you read the...disclosures on these sites, they often tell you that they optimize for what they see you do, not your aspirations." He and other researchers showed survey and internal-document evidence linking engagement metrics to increases in hateful, violent and sexually explicit content.
Dr. Jason Nagata (UCSF) emphasized that boys’ experience can differ from girls’ — addictive patterns of use are associated, in longitudinal data, with later attention problems, and exposure to muscularity-focused content can lead to risky supplement or anabolic-steroid use. Both researchers urged regulation aimed at reducing addictive features (infinite scroll, autoplay, hyper-personalized feeds) while preserving constructive online spaces.
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