eLibrary
  • Home
  • Sources
  • Search
  • About

Social Media Weakens Users’ Critical Thinking and Requires Strategic Responses

Yuzhuo Xie
Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences, (2025), Vol.5, No.9, pp.239-252
Published: September 18, 2025
DOI: 10.54691/66fks596
PDF: Download Full Text PDF
Abstract

As social media becomes more and more popular, it has an increasing impact on the way people think. Many platforms recommend content based on criteria such as the number of likes and view time, a mechanism that makes emotional, one-sided and even misleading information more likely to be seen, while issues that are truly insightful and can help us think are instead buried. By reviewing data and analysing the policies of several countries (e.g., Germany, UK, EU, US, Singapore, China) and major platforms (e.g., Meta, YouTube, X, and TikTok), this study tries to figure out the causes of these problems and what current policies do well and what they don't do well. The study found that while countries and platforms have taken some measures to manage social media content, such as removing false information, protecting youth, and publishing transparency reports, many of the policies still lack coherence and platform governance is not open and transparent enough. At the same time, most of the current policies only focus on ‘content’, but neglect the understanding and judgement of the users themselves, especially adults, who rarely have the opportunity to receive relevant education or improve their information literacy. This paper suggests that the government, platforms, and society should work together to improve the transparency of platform governance, develop diverse recommendation algorithms, strengthen user education on information literacy, especially for young users, and establish a long-term, open, and monitorable regulatory system. It is hoped that through the cooperation of all parties, social media can become a space conducive to reflection and rational dialogue.

Keywords: Social media; critical thinking; recommend content; respond.
APA Citation: Yuzhuo Xie (2025). Social Media Weakens Users’ Critical Thinking and Requires Strategic Responses. Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(9), 239-252. https://doi.org/10.54691/66fks596

References

  1. Kemp, S. (2024). Digital 2024: Global Overview Report. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report
  2. Kemp, S. (2025). Digital 2025: Global Overview Report. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-global-overview-report
  3. Meikle, G. (2024). Communication. In G. Meikle (Ed.), Social media: the convergence of public and personal communication (2nd ed., pp. 15-34). Routledge.
  4. Pariser , E. (2011). The race for relevance. In E. Pariser (Ed.), The Filter Bubble: What the internet is hiding from you. The penguin Press.
  5. Steinert, S., Marin, L., & Roeser, S. (2025). Feeling and thinking on social media: emotions, affective scaffolding, and critical thinking. Inquiry, 68(1), 114-141.
  6. Cheng, L., Fang, G., Zhang, X., Lv, Y., & Liu, L. (2022). Impact of social media use on critical thinking ability of university students. Library Hi Tech, 42(2), 642-669.
  7. Quan-Haase, A., & Young, A. L. (2010). Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of Facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of science, technology & society, 30(5), 350-361.
  8. Trouche, E., Johansson, P., Hall, L., & Mercier, H. (2016). The selective laziness of reasoning. Cognitive Science, 40(8), 2122-2136.
  9. Haim, M., Graefe, A., & Brosius, H.-B. (2018). Burst of the filter bubble? Effects of personalization on the diversity of Google News. Digital journalism, 6(3), 330-343.
  10. Stacy, J. D. (2023). Social Media Statistics. https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/.
  11. Faverio, M., Anderson, M., & Park, E. (2025). Teens, Social Media and Mental Health. https:// www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/
  12. Wikipedia. (2022). Network Enforcement Act. https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Network_ Enforcement_Act
  13. Human Rights Watch. (2018). Germany: Flawed Social Media Law. https://www. hrw.org/news/ 2018/02/14/germany-flawed-social-media-law
  14. The Future of Free Speech. (2024). Preventing ‘Torrents of Hate’ or Stifling Free Expression Online? https://futurefreespeech.org/preventing-torrents-of-hate-or-stifling-free-expression-online/
  15. European Commission. (2022). The EU’s Digital Services Act. https://commission. europa.eu/ strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-services-act_en
  16. European Commission. (2024). TikTok commits to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite Rewards programme from the EU to comply with the Digital Services Act. https:// ec.europa.eu/ commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_4161
  17. Reuters. (2025). EU says it is probing corporate structure of Musk’s X months after xAI deal. https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-probes-musks-xai-buyout-x-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-06-19/
  18. Trujillo, A., Fagni, T., & Cresci, S. (2025). The DSA Transparency Database: Auditing self-reported moderation actions by social media. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9(2), 1-28.
  19. GOV.UK. (2020). Online Harms White Paper: Full government response to the consultation. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper/outcome/online-harms-white-paper-full-government-response
  20. GOV.UK. (2023). Online Safety Act: Explainer. https://www.gov. uk/government/ publications /online- safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer
  21. Reuters. (2024). Britain sets first codes of practice for tech firms in online safety regime. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-sets-first-codes-practice-tech-firms-online-safety-regime-2024-12-16/
  22. Ofcom. (2025). Enforcing the Online Safety Act: Platforms must start tackling illegal material from today. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/enforcing-the-online- safety- act-platforms-must-start-tackling-illegal-material-from-today
  23. Ofcom. (2025). Enforcing the Online Safety Act: Ofcom opens nine new investigations. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/enforcing-the-online-safety-act-ofcom-opens-9-new-investigations
  24. UK Parliament. (2024). Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms. https:// committees.parliament.uk/work/8641/social-media-misinformation-and-harmful-algorithms
  25. CONGRESS. GOV. (2024). Section 230: an Overview. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/ R46751
  26. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2019). DHS/CBP/PIA-058 Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative. https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhscbppia-058-publicly-available-social-media-monitoring-and-situational-awareness
  27. CONGRESS.GOV. (2024). H.R.7521 - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521.
  28. Musquera, A., & Brennen, J. S. (2025). What Has Congress Been Doing on Section 230? https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what-has-congress-been-doing-on-section-230
  29. Transparency Coalition. (2025). A House committee in Olympia is stalling this bill to protect kids from addictive apps. https://www.transparencycoalition.ai/news/house-committee-in-olympia-is-stalling-this-bill-to-protect-kids-from-addictive-apps
  30. Singapore Statutes Online. (2019). Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019. https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/POFMA2019
  31. Goh, Y. H. (2024). Five years of Pofma: How has the law been used to combat fake news? https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/five-years-of-pofma-how-has-the-law-been-used-to-combat-fake-news
  32. Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission. (2019). Regulations on the Ecological Governance of Network Information Content. https://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-12/20/c_157837 5159509309.htm
  33. Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission. (2022). Regulations on the Management of Internet User Account Information. https://www.cac.gov.cn/2022-06/26/c_ 1657868775 042841.htm
  34. [Zucchi, K. (2021). Why Facebook Is Banned in China & How to Access It. https:// www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/042915/why-facebook-banned-china.asp
  35. Meta. (2022). Taking action. https://transparency.meta.com/zh-cn/enforcement/taking-action/
  36. Meta. (2025). Community Notes: A New Way to Add Context to Posts. https:// transparency. meta.com/en-gb/features/community-notes/.
  37. Meta. (2024). Helping Teens See Age-Appropriate Content. https://transparency.meta.com/zh-cn/policies/age-appropriate-content/
  38. Wikipedia. (2019). Censorship of Facebook. https:// en.wikipedia. org/wiki/ Censor ship_ of_Facebook.
  39. Meta. (n.d.). Transparency reports. https://transparency.meta.com/reports/
  40. YouTube. (n.d.). Community Guidelines. https:// www.youtube. com/intl/ ALL_uk/ howyoutu beworks/ policies/community-guidelines/#taking-action-on-violations
  41. YouTube. (n.d.). Our Policies. https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/our-policies/
  42. Popular Timelines. (2019). History of YouTube Kids in Timeline. https:// populartimelines. com/timeline/YouTube-Kids/full
  43. YouTube. (n.d.). Kid & Teens. https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/kids-and-teens/
  44. Google Transparency Report. (2024). Disposal of content that violates the YouTube Community Guidelinest. https://transparencyreport.google.com/youtube-policy/removals
  45. Desmarais, A. (2025). Hate speech on X up 50% under Musk, new study finds. https://www. euronews.com/next/2025/02/13/hate-speech-on-x-now-50-higher-under-elon-musks-leadership-new-study-finds
  46. X. (2021). About Community Notes on X. https://help.x.com/en/using-x/community-notes
  47. X. (n.d.). The X rules. https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-rules
  48. Chuai, Y., Tian, H., Pröllochs, N., & Lenzini, G. (2024). Did the roll-out of community notes reduce engagement with misinformation on X/Twitter? Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CSCW2), 1-52.
  49. Tiktok. (2024). Overview. https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines/en/overview
  50. TikTok. (n.d.). Content violations and bans. https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/content-violations-and-bans
  51. Latiff, R. (2024). ByteDance’s TikTok cuts hundreds of jobs in shift towards AI content moderation. https://www.reuters.com/technology/bytedance-cuts-over-700-jobs-malaysia-shift-towards-ai-moderation-sources-say-2024-10-11/
  52. TikTok. (2025). Safety Resources for Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers. https://www. tiktok.com/safety/en/guardians-guide/
  53. Polanco-Levicán, K., & Salvo-Garrido, S. (2022). Understanding social media literacy: A systematic review of the concept and its competences. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(14), 8807.
© 2026 eLibrary · Stand on the shoulders of giants