I just finished Amy Orben's excellent article, The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics, and recommend it.
I thought it was going to be simply an acknowledgement and catalogue of the fact that yes, we have seen this before, with radio, comics, TV, video games, etc., and while it does include that, it does an excellent job of explaining why we keep seeing what appear to be the exact same types of studies, and why politicians keep calling for inquiries into the latest thing that appears to be corrupting our youth.
A quote from the section describing the reinvention of the wheel, "In none of these cases does evidence ameliorate society's concerns; rather, the focus of concerns shifts to a new technology as society simply moves on." :-(
Orben does suggest a couple of solutions to breaking this cycle, but it really doesn't seem to me that either will come to pass, so hop on the train.
Orben, A. (2020). The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(5), 1143-1157. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620919372
