“US states sue TikTok, alleging social media platform harms children” on AP News. This is sheer hypocrisy: All social media is designed to be addictive. FB engineered the dopamine loop. But they are only going after Chinese apps. 美聯社新聞報導稱，「美國各州起訴 TikTok，指控社群媒體平台傷害兒童」。這純粹是虛偽的：所有社群媒體都是為了上癮而設計的。FB 設計了多巴胺循環。但他們只關注中國應用程式。

In fact, all products under capitalism strive to be addictive–they want to create their own demand, hook their consumers: TV, soap operas, video games, etc.

In fact, the history of modern capitalism is the history of addictive substances: sugar, tea, tobacco, opium, coffee, chocolate–usually produced through slave labor in colonial plantations.

Where substances are not originally addictive, they are redesigned (usually refined) to become addictive: coca leaf–>cocaine; ritual cacao–>chocolate candy; cane sugar–>refined sugar; ritual tobacco leaf–>cigarettes; etc.

The States could simply pass legislation regarding SM–as has China–but they won’t. Because that would have to apply to all SM. It would require uniform standards across apps to protect children. So, they’d rather go selectively after a Chinese app for money.

Overuse itself is not the same as an addiction. Addiction causes demonstrable harm, which is why it requires banning or restriction. “Loss of focus” or “Loss of self-esteem” is a loose concept that they will have difficulty proving. But if they persist, they are attacking the pillars of capitalism itself.