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analyze user accounts and classified one-third of the platform's users as under 14,13 which suggests platform operators are well aware that children lie about their age in order to access social media. Further, research indicates the pandemic has increased screen media use for preteens and teenagers. In 2021, preteens (ages 8 to 12) averaged over 5.5 hours of entertainment screen time per day and teens (ages 13 to 18) averaged a remarkable 8.5 hours daily - a 17% increase from 2019 for both age groups.14 Much of this time is spent on the major social media platforms. Ninety-five percent of teens say they use YouTube, and 67% say they use TikTok.11 Thirty-five percent of teens say they are using one of the top five online platforms—YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook—"almost constantly.1116 Teens' and preeteens' daily screentimes vary based on race and household income. White preteens average 4.5 hours of entertainment screen time use daily, compared to Black preteens (6.5 hours) and Hispanic/Latino preteens (7 hours). White teens spend approximately 8 hours per day on screens for entertainment, while Black and Hispanic/Latino teens average approximately two hours more.17 Preteens in higher-income households spend just under 4.5 hours of screen time per day, compared to preteens in middle-income households (5.75 hours) and lower-income households (7.5 hours).Teens in higher-income households spend about 2.5 hours less daily on screens for entertainment compared to teens in lower- and middle-income households, (7 and 9.5 hours daily, respectively).1' III. Overuse of digital media is linked to a number of serious harms for young people Increased time online and social media use is linked to serious harms for young people. As the Surgeon General has observed —and as described in detail in Section IV of this testimony— "[b]usiness models are often built around maximizing user engagement as opposed to safeguarding users' health and ensuring that users engage with one another in safe and healthy ways . . . This translates to technology companies focusing on maximizing time spent, not time well spent."19 By maximizing time and activities online, the design choices made by platforms to maximize engagement harm minors in a number of ways, including: undermining mental health, harm to body image, fostering problematic internet use, harming physical health, " Raymond Zhong and Sheera Frenkel,A Third of TikTok's U.S. Users May Be 14 or Under, Raising Safety Questions, New York Times, (Aug. 14,2020), 17„G;G„ P u.ssrs fG c.17.t rri I. ............................................ 14 Common Sense, The Common Sense Census:Media Use by Tweens and Teens at 12 (2022), 171G s: www.corrirrioi7si7srridia.or. sits dfau.slG fibs rsarcl7 r orG 8 �8 co7su.ss ii7Ge raced-raorG �ii7al p........././......................................................................................................................................................................... /........................../......................................... ......................./................................................./..............p................../..................................................................................................;...................................................................................................... Ita....._I.pA:L. is Emily A.Vogels et al., Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022, Pew Research Center(Aug. 10,2022), https://www.pewresea rch.org/i nternet/2022/08/10/teen s-socia I-media-and-tech noIogy-2022. 16 Id. 17 Victoria Rideout,Alanna Peebles,et al., The Common Sense Census:Media Use by Tweens and Teens at 12, (2022 17GG s: www.corrirrionsenseori dia.or. sit s d fau.slG fibs r s arch r orG 8 �8 c o7su.ss ii7G raG d r orG ), p........././.........................................................................................................................................................................'./............................./.........................................../......................../..................................................../................p................../..................................................................................................;................................................p...................... i]a�..:.: .eb.......� p.. . .: �.:( is Id. 11 Protecting Youth Mental Health: The U.S.Surgeon General's Advisory at 25 (2021), �::.J) —rail-ym-rth-ine'I tal-h(:-'aIth 'Idvi Ory.Pdf- Testimony of Josh Galin, Fairplay, February 14, 2023 4