Social media is the best and worst way that we have shifted our communication. The abundance of worldwide voices has given the isolated more of a connection while also making us dependent on that world as our third-places disperse and the world gets worse. Your Attention Please is a film that makes an emotional plea for the regulation of this digital realm, but from a position where it is very easy to turn off the phone without thinking about those who can’t.

As the film begins, there’s a smear of 1990s nostalgia, with VCR static and retro footage from the era, prompting the viewer to recall a time when we didn’t have smartphones on us. It’s not a hard vision for millennials to conjure, but considering a handful of advocates who appear in this film were not born in that era, it must seem more magical than it really was. There’s a danger in looking back on the simplicity of the past, which was stolen by something that can be easily turned off or banned. This is worth noting because the bulk of this movement, calling for the internet to be more regulated, approaches the subject at a limited emotional level and through psychological testing that leaves out far too many factors.

Cyberbullying becomes a key factor in this regulation, and it’s easy to identify with those who have lost loved ones to this chaotic digital landscape. We hear from grieving mothers who lost their sons to suicide, encouraged by the nasty comments they’ve received online. There’s an understandable sadness and rage to do something about it, which they certainly do by attending hearings with photos of the departed, holding them up for Mark Zuckerberg to see. For ignoring the data that Facebook tracked on its users’ psychology and how it manipulated its algorithm, there should be confrontation, and I was rooting for the moms to make their voices heard.

But then the movement shifts toward promoting the Kids Online Safety Act, and here the appeal lessens. Such a bill is framed as a protection for children to not receive bullying on social media and hold bullies accountable, but, as many critics have noted, the vagueness of what constitutes harm could easily be wielded against the LGBTQ communities. This is an issue that isn’t as reassuring to brush aside with a mere, “No, it won’t do that.” The film never challenges this notion much, focusing instead on the emotional drive of grieving mothers in well-to-do neighborhoods and a hopeful Gen Z living in cities. All that matters from this perspective is the psychological benefits of taking time away from the screen, leaving an uncomfortable level of blind spots.

Social media is a Pandora’s Box, which Your Attention Please unfortunately frames as a box not too difficult to shut. The mistake is in how the documentary treats our dependency as little more than an addiction incentivized by anonymity and greed. The most positive aspect emphasized is that clubs and schools are starting to meaningfully shift away from smartphones, signaling that a paradigm shift is coming. As we charge forward, however, there are plenty of potholes for representation and safety that shouldn’t be sped through so recklessly. It’s something to keep in mind as Zuckerberg continues to be rightfully grilled.