Is there a precedent where this happened organically and the same similarities were in place in that many legislations around the world inside of half a year?
These kind of laws usually take many years to hone down just right and talk to all parties involved. Unless some lobby group presents a finished piece of work that just has to be waved through, like with the Citigroup scandal.
Then you had the Covid years where kids ended up spending a lot of time on phones and tablets, hence social media, and everyone is seeing the myriad of problems coming out of it.
Sometimes it's not a vast global conspiracy, sometimes things just suck. Also, sometimes things suck and particular groups use it to get their way, that still doesn't diminish the thing that sucks.
There’s known issues with bullying, grooming, to mental hygiene issues like screen addiction and poor focus.
Hell, these are the first generations which have lower educational attainment than its predecessors.
It’s been reported on over and over again. It’s a cost center so no one cares about it.