20th SSF Security Talk | Opportunities and Risks of Social Media for Young People, Society and the State, 19 February 2025.
Wed, 19 Feb
|BERNEXPO-Areal, Main Stage
Panel discussion as part of the Swiss Cyber Security Days 2025: TikTok and Instagram provide education and networking opportunities, but they also promote dependencies and fears. How to protect young people without missing out on positive potential?
Time & Location
19 Feb 2025, 16:00 – 16:45
BERNEXPO-Areal, Main Stage, Mingerstrasse 6, 3014 Bern, Switzerland
About the event
Opportunities and Risks of Social Media for Young People, Society and the State
In 2024, the discussion about the significant influence of social media on youth and society has intensified once again. Recent studies reveal that platforms like TikTok and Instagram use algorithms and targeted design strategies aimed at maximizing user engagement. These strategies exploit psychological mechanisms, which can have both positive and negative impacts on young people.
Particularly concerning is the deliberate promotion of addictive behaviors through the creation of pleasure or the inducement of fear. The strategies employed raise urgent societal and political questions: How can youth be better protected without compromising the positive aspects of social media, such as access to education and social connections?
The concerns of teachers and parents are reflected in growing demands for preventive measures. At the same time, it is becoming evident that autocratic countries are deliberately using social media as a tool to generate societal instability in the West and to undermine democratic values.
To effectively address the situation, various stakeholders are needed:
Parents, schools and society must raise young people's awareness of the dangers and at the same time train them to use social media responsibly.
Politicians should create a clear regulatory framework that both requires transparency in algorithms and restricts harmful practices.
Platform operators have a responsibility not only to disclose their algorithms, but also to implement measures against the promotion of an addictive environment.
As part of an FSS panel discussion, we will shed light on the opportunities and risks of social media for the state and society and the associated challenges, especially for young people.
Registration on this website | +41 (0)44 533 04 00 | or: sekretariat@forum-sicherheit-schweiz.ch
Thanks to our partnership with the Swiss Cyber Security Days and BERNEXPO, FSS members can purchase a day ticket for February 19 at a reduced price of CHF 400 instead of CHF 510. After completing your registration, you will receive a discount code from us, which you can redeem directly on the Swiss Cyber Security Days Website.