ϳԹ

Skip to main content

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

Subscribe Follow Us
  • Trump 2.0

    Trump 2.0

    • Agency Watch
    • State Watch
    • Medicaid Watch
    • Rural Health Payout
  • Public Health

    Public Health

    • Vaccines
    • CDC & Disease
    • Environmental Health
  • Audio Reports

    Audio Reports

    • What the Health?
    • Health Care Helpline
    • ϳԹ News Minute
    • An Arm and a Leg
    • Health Hub
    • HealthQ
    • Silence in Sikeston
    • Epidemic
    • See All Audio
  • Special Reports

    Special Reports

    • Bill Of The Month
    • The Body Shops
    • Broken Rehab
    • Deadly Denials
    • Priced Out
    • Dead Zone
    • Diagnosis: Debt
    • Overpayment Outrage
    • Opioid Settlement Tracking
    • See All Special Reports
  • More Topics

    More Topics

    • Elections
    • Health Care Costs
    • Insurance
    • Prescription Drugs
    • Health Industry
    • Immigration
    • Reproductive Health
    • Technology
    • Rural Health
    • Race and Health
    • Aging
    • Mental Health
    • Affordable Care Act
    • Medicare
    • Medicaid
    • Children’s Health

  • Emergency Room Boarding
  • Device Coverage by Medicare
  • Planned Parenthood Funding
  • Covid/Flu Combo Shot
  • RFK Jr. vs. Congress

TRENDING TOPICS:

  • Emergency Room Boarding
  • Device Coverage by Medicare
  • Planned Parenthood Funding
  • Covid/Flu Combo Shot
  • RFK Jr. vs. Congress

Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

  • Email

Wednesday, Jul 31 2019

Full Issue

Lawmaker Targets Infinite Scroll, Other Techniques To Keep Users Mindlessly Engaged In Apps

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accused Big Tech of embracing "a business model of addiction.” His bill doesn’t go as far as outright banning social media platforms, but it proposes regulatory measures that would force users to actively choose to engage for prolonged periods rather than being mindlessly sucked into the void.

The youngest senator in Congress, and one of its toughest crusaders against Big Tech, proposed a bill Tuesday meant to curb social media addiction by regulating the techniques that prolong engagement on the platforms. Freshman Sen. Josh Hawley’s bill, the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology (SMART) Act, would make it illegal for social media companies such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to use infinite scroll, autoplay video or techniques like Snapchat’s “streaks,” which reward a user with badges for repeated use. (Mettler, 7/30)

In other health and technology news —

Artificial intelligence is poised to alter care in many medical specialties over the next several years. But few doctors are likely to see as much change as cardiologists, whose practices are already shifting with the use of algorithms to monitor patients’ hearts and produce reams of personalized data. These data can be used not only to detect troublesome heart rhythms, but also to predict future life-threatening heart problems and inform treatment decisions that may head off those episodes. (Ross, 7/31)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Newsletter icon

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay informed by signing up for the Morning Briefing and other emails:

Recent Morning Briefings

  • Friday, April 24
  • Thursday, April 23
  • Wednesday, April 22
  • Tuesday, April 21
  • Monday, April 20
  • Friday, April 17
More Morning Briefings
RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
  • Special Reports
  • Morning Briefing
  • ϳԹ
  • Republish Our Content
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

  • RSS

Sign up for emails

Join our email list for regular updates based on your personal preferences.

Sign up
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2026 KFF