Brian Zhou

On October 24th, 2023, a collective force of 33 states filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The suit, filed in California district court, alleged that Meta had used advertising tailored towards children, which made them addicted to its services, while its failure to properly regulate its platforms created a dangerous and harmful environment for them. The lawsuit against Meta Platforms is of utmost importance to the SPRING Group. As an organization exclusively composed of students who are young adults, the members of the Group are in the age cohort that Meta has directly tailored its deceptive advertising towards. On top of our knowledge regarding the addictive effects of social media, such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, on younger children, SPRING fellows also have personal experiences with living childhoods defined by the constant usage of social networks. As part of its goal of highlighting youth viewpoints on issues of concern to them, SPRING seeks to bring the unique perspective of high school students into the states’ action against Meta. This brief analyzes the specific causes of action in the lawsuit, specifically Meta’s youth-tailored advertising, their negligence and misrepresentation to the public, as well as their harms on the physical and mental safety of younger users. It then delves into the validity of the lawsuit, how it is likely to be ruled upon, and what courts have done or will likely do with it.

In the past three years, the number of deaths caused by fentanyl overdoses has skyrocketed. The drug is 100 times more potent than morphine and just 2 milligrams of fentanyl, equal to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose. Illegally manufactured fentanyl is found in heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and in counterfeit pills. Teenagers are the center of this epidemic. They consume common drugs, unknowing that it might contain traces of fentanyl and that those traces are enough to be fatal. It is imperative that action is taken at every level to combat the epidemic and protect those that are most vulnerable. In this brief, we cover the basic mechanisms of how fentanyl functions, how it affects the human body, how it is propagated throughout society, who is most at risk of fentanyl poisoning, and how it might fall into those groups’ hands. We stand in support of The Nyl Project’s attention on the surge in fentanyl-related deaths in the United States of America, believing that more is needed to involve NGOs, educate susceptible populations, and prevent overdoses to end the epidemic once and for all. Now more than ever, schools, governments, and NGOs need to step up and take action.

Arms transfers are directly linked to human rights. In conflict, transferred weapons and arms split apart families, equipping nations with exponentially larger capacity for destruction and annihilation. Given the nature of arms, access to information about arms transfers is often asymmetric between the public, government stakeholders, state-owned enterprises, and private companies; a trade-off exists between the benefits of making information public and transparent with the downsides of revealing sensitive national security items or trade secrets. In this brief, we review the legal landscape of access to information laws, highlighting applicability to arms transfers to analyze how transparent/accessible information and data regarding arms transfers are in the status quo. We stand in support of the Human Rights Council’s attention on arms transfers, believing that more is needed to involve NGOs, close international loopholes, and track responsible arms usage with technology to uphold human rights for all.

An alarming number of households have unreliable access or none at all to an Internet connection and the technology needed to attain digital education. Over 9 million students14—around 12% of the total student population15—lack access to the Internet entirely. 1 in 4 students have unreliable Internet networks. This also extends to teachers, as around 400,000 lack access to digital education.16 ...

Social media has exploded in usage amongst children. 50% of parents state that their child has access to some type of social media, with 32% of parents reporting that their children aged 7 to 9 have access to social media. Three quarters of parents have shared the content of their children online.1 ...

The global economic community has long discussed fiscal redistribution programs that stray from the traditional paradigm of means-tested welfare programs. A universal basic income (UBI) presents an attractive alternative method of redistribution that may limit bureaucratic processes and boosts economic growth....

The debt ceiling in the United States, created in 1917, was founded on the principle of controlling the U.S. debt accrual and government spending. As one of a few countries that have a debt ceiling, there is constant and ongoing discourse regarding the debt ceiling’s true impact on the economy. Over the past century, even with the deterrent of the debt ceiling, the U.S. government is continuously running a deficit that is increasing by trillions each year. Because of this enormous expenditure, this has prompted repeated attempts to avoid default, renderi...

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered one of the most volatile economic recessions the United States has seen. Millions of Americans most proximately felt the impacts of increased inflation, higher food insecurity, and pricier bills for rent, groceries, emergencies, and other critical expenses. The “Great Resignation” trend of voluntary unemployment due to untenable costs of living and stagnant wage adjustment to Pandemic-era circumstances magnified a larger societal problem that has been deep-rooted in the American labor system for decades: low minimum wages....

The Universal Guidelines for AI (UGAI), authored in 2018, was hailed at the time as a needed push for the recognition of rights of all individuals in a world of advancing and continuous AI. In the five years since, many of the principles in the UGAI have been adopted into national law and global forums and frameworks regarding AI governance. Principles of the UGAI have been implemented in the European Union’s landmark AI Act, as well as the White House’s blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which is expected to be released as an executive order in winter ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a global concern with diverse stakeholders worldwide, ranging from governments using AI for benign or harmful purposes to multinational tech companies pursuing AI dominance. Amid this complex landscape, ethical concerns related to human rights, privacy, and sustainability often go unaddressed. To tackle these challenges, there's a pressing need for a global framework and collaborative body for AI governance. The United Nations is working toward establishing a multi-stakeholder High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelli...

The up-and-coming technological development that will define the next few centuries of scientific advancement is not in Artificial Intelligence, but rather our understanding of the sub-atomic: quantum. The quantum revolution leverages new innovative understandings in science theory and engineering capability to create new solutions in diverse spaces from cryptography to physical materials. Quantum computers, which offer the real possibility of replacing classical computers for intensive tasks, have the potential to transform and optimise sectors from agr...

High-speed rail has the potential to revitalize the decaying American passenger rail system and public transit infrastructure at large. However, while other countries have far surpassed America's HSR network, ongoing projects in America face delayed construction, rising costs, legal challenges, and poor support infrastructure. Despite these challenges, HSR still has the potential to revolutionize American transit and revitalize the American economy, offering an alternative to car and air travel, reducing carbon emissions, and connecting vast cities and regions. Support for improved infrastructure enjoys bipartisan support, and the growing political sway of the younger generation is increasingly advocating for improved rail transit. However, actions are needed by the Federal government and state legislatures to allow for these HSR projects to succeed. We analyze the involvement of stakeholders through the development of HSR, their incentive structures and influence, and propose actions that can be taken by governments on the state and federal levels to encourage the growth and development of a national HSR project.