Latest / Commentary - TJ Meadows / Social Media on Trial

Transcript

Social Media on Trial · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Is social media the new big tobacco? That's the argument
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  Speaker 1: being tested right now in a Los Angeles courtroom, where
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  Speaker 1: the first of several major lawsuits kicked off this week.
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  Speaker 1: The claim is simple. Social media companies intentionally designed their
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: platforms to hook kids. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, snapchat. They're
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  Speaker 1: all named, and according to reports, thousands of individuals, hundreds
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  Speaker 1: of school districts, and dozens of state attorneys general are
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  Speaker 1: lining up behind these cases. Now, is social media bad
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  Speaker 1: for kids? Probably, And like most things, it depends on
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  Speaker 1: how much exposure they have. But here's what's missing from
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  Speaker 1: much of this conversation, parental responsibility. If social media harmed children,
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  Speaker 1: do parents who allowed unlimited or nearly unlimited access bear
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: some responsibility? What about buying connected devices for young kids,
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  Speaker 1: or failing to set screen time limits, or not monitoring
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  Speaker 1: what their kids were consuming? Blaming big tech loan feels convenient.
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  Speaker 1: And here's the bigger question. What comes next? If these
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  Speaker 1: lawsuits succeed? What stops the next wave? Could someone sue
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  Speaker 1: AI developers, streaming platforms, more video game companies? At what
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  Speaker 1: point does innovation itself become a legal liability? That's not
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  Speaker 1: an argument against accountability. It's an argument for balance, because
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  Speaker 1: if every new technology ends in a courtroom instead of
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  Speaker 1: a conversation, we may change the Internet forever, and not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily for the better.