UnbubbleX is a youth-led movement changing how teenagers experience the digital world: research, real stories, and real-world action.
Social media can't be un-invented. We have to learn to live with it. So let's make something beautiful out of it.— Laurine Beele, ICT&health World Conference
I started on social media when I was eight. Dancing on TikTok with friends, building worlds in Minecraft, sharing adventures from our mountain hikes. Social media made us more creative, more connected, more us.
Then something shifted. I couldn't describe what was so interesting about scrolling. I couldn't point to a single video worth watching. My homework piled up, my grades dropped, I skipped sports, I stayed up late hiding my phone.
When my parents took my phone, I fought back. Hard. But slowly, I started feeling something I'd forgotten: myself. I slept better. I got stronger. My grades went up.
That's when I realized: if it took me months and my parents' help to break free, what about the millions of teenagers doing this alone, without anyone noticing?
That question became UnbubbleX.
In just over a year, our work reached policymakers, physicians and millions of readers across the Netherlands.
Laurine led a youth panel of 15 teenagers to systematically document how easily minors are targeted through social platforms. Their findings became a national wake-up call and led directly to an ACM enforcement request and a formal DSA investigation into Snapchat.
Presented "Tox-Detox-Retox" together with youth physician Kelli Tiggelman to 1,000+ healthcare professionals in Maastricht.
🏆 ICT&health Award WinnerNOS · AD · De Telegraaf · Financieël Dagblad · RTL Nieuws · Trouw · Nu.nl · Hart van Nederland. All reported on our youth panel investigation.
National reach Read the AD article →Following our enforcement request, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets started an official Digital Services Act investigation into Snapchat's role in enabling vape sales to minors.
Digital Services Act Read the ACM publication →
Guest lectures at Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum on the dangers of vaping and social media manipulation. Featured in De Gooi en Eemlander.
Youth educationLaurine's full keynote, presented at a congress of 10,000+ healthcare leaders from 50 countries in MECC Maastricht, together with youth physician Kelli Tiggelman.
A glimpse of the moments most people don't see: the preparation, the energy backstage, and the conversations that turn an idea into a movement.
Laurine's work bridges the worlds of teenagers and healthcare leaders — bringing the lived experience of a generation directly into rooms where decisions about their future are made.
Young people from around the world were among the first to back Laurine's belief that her generation deserves a voice in how social media shapes their health. This circle is growing, and there's room for you in it.
Share your own experience, help start the conversation at your school, or speak up for your generation in your own circle. You don't need a title to make a difference, just reach out.
Laurine's mission is bigger than one campaign: building awareness about how social media shapes the health of an entire generation. The vape investigation was one chapter in that mission, a powerful example of what happens when social platforms go unchecked.
As the youth lead of this project, Laurine brought together medical experts, lawyers and researchers to translate lived experience into national policy action.
Experts in law and digital health who stand behind UnbubbleX and help steer its mission.
TEDx speaker and Innovation Key Opinion Leader, with 30+ years across pharma and biotech (ex-Novartis, ex-Lonza, ex-Ciba).
Laurine represents exactly the kind of courageous, human-centric leadership we need in the digital age. She is not rejecting technology; she is asking us to redesign it so it serves young people instead of shaping them silently. UnbubbleX brings together lived experience, youth voice, healthcare, policy, and digital responsibility in a way that is both urgent and deeply inspiring. This vision strongly resonates with my own belief that technology should always be designed to serve human beings, especially the younger generations who are growing up inside these digital ecosystems.pgerwill.com → LinkedIn →
Co-head of the Tech Team at De Roos and partner since 2018, specializing in intellectual property, advertising, privacy and media law, with over 17 years of experience. Known for landmark greenwashing cases against companies like Primark and Zalando, and a vocal advocate against the sale of vapes to minors.
The DSA forces platforms to take more responsibility, but legislation alone doesn't change a culture. UnbubbleX puts young people themselves in the driver's seat, and that's exactly what we need right now.Profile at De Roos → LinkedIn →
Laurine speaks at conferences, schools, and professional training sessions about growing up online and making social media healthier. She puts her hours here, and a speaking fee keeps that possible. Reach out and we'll come back with availability and details.
Request a booking →Share your experience, help start the conversation at your school, or speak up for your generation in your own circle. You don't need a title to make a difference. Just reach out.
I want to get involved →Whether you can offer a stage, an introduction, your expertise, or backing in another form, there's a way to help. Tell us what you have in mind.
Let's talk →Social media and youth health: what your patient isn't telling you
MECC Maastricht, ICT&health Award ceremony
Presentation on social media impact on youth health for youth physicians
Keynote "Tox-Detox-Retox" with youth physician Kelli Tiggelman
Coverage and contributions about UnbubbleX and the wider conversation on social media and youth health, published by ICT&health.
A ban on social media solves little, Laurine argues. Instead of rules, she puts her faith in recognition and real alternatives. An interview on why awareness alone isn't enough, and where UnbubbleX comes in.
International blog at the ICT&health World Conference 2025 (#IWC25), introducing the youth perspective on social media and health.
Featured interview in ICT&health Magazine (#3, 2025) with Laurine Beele and youth physician Kelli Tiggelman about turning social media into a force for good.
Presentation at the Dutch national Youth Physicians Day, sharing the lived experience of social media impact on teenagers with the medical community.
Student at Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum. Keynote speaker. Youth researcher. ICT&health Award winner. Passionate about changing how her generation experiences the digital world, not by fighting technology, but by making it work for young people instead of against them.
Laurine has spoken at international health conferences, co-led research that triggered a national investigation into Snapchat, and has been featured in every major Dutch news outlet.
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Interested in collaboration, speaking engagements, or joining our mission? We'd love to hear from you.
hello@unbubblex.com Or connect on LinkedIn →
