Built to Hook: Holding Platforms Accountable for Mental Wellbeing | Lunch & Learn

28 May 2026 | 12:30–13:30 CET | Online (Zoom) | Free registration

The conversation about social media and mental health keeps circling back to the same question: Should we ban children from these platforms? It is an important question. But it is not the only one, and it shouldn’t be.

The psychological harms linked to social media are not accidents. Addictive scroll mechanics, algorithmic amplification of distressing content, recommendation systems designed to keep users engaged at any cost: these are design choices. And they affect everyone, even if children experience them most acutely.

For our first Lunch & Learn webinar, Mental Health Europe brings together three voices to ask something more structural: what are platforms actually doing to people’s mental wellbeing, and who should be held accountable for changing it?

Speakers:

• Manon Letouche, Head of EU Affairs, 5Rights Foundation, on what binding design obligations look like in practice and where EU regulation still falls short
• Elizabeth Gosme, Director, COFACE Families Europe, on social context, family equity and who is most exposed to platform-driven harm
• Young people from MHE’s network of the Youth Leadership Programme, sharing their lived experience of social media and its effects on mental health

The format is a 60-minute facilitated panel discussion, open to EU policy professionals, civil society peers, researchers and anyone working at the intersection of digital policy and mental health.

Bring your lunch. The conversation will be worth it!