The year 2026 has been an expensive one for social media platforms. Since March, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have settled or paid out in multiple lawsuits to the tune of more than $17 billion for allegedly acting negligently, deliberately designing their platforms to hook kids and misleading the public about safety and privacy. More legal action targeting social platforms may follow, while countries around the world are looking at social media bans for minors. But Carnegie Mellon scholar Ari Lightman writes that early research shows bans might not be the answer.

  Peggy Roalf: Do you remember the first illustrated book you acquired as a young adult? What attracted your attention to that particular volume? Viktor Koen: Other than growing up on a healthy diet of Tintin, Asterix & Obelix and Lucky Luke, the first illustrated book I remember intentionally buying was Art Spiegelman’s Maus. PR: Do books still have the same allure that they did when you were a student? VK: The allure has only increased. There is noth...