Sometimes its effects feel unbearable.
This is the third election cycle in the US—2016, 2020, 2024—where social media has really played an important role in elections. America has yet to come to grips with the fact that our democracy is becoming increasingly precarious. It's becoming more polarized, it's becoming more hateful, it's becoming less consensual. With the 2020 elections we have seen that people no longer accept elections as real. It is imperative that we begin to implement the transparency and accountability that is required of the platforms that control the information ecosystem that has so much impact on our election cycles.
Why do you think social media is so difficult to control and the harms it causes?
Countries around the world are doing it. The UK enacted the Online Safety Act. The EU legislated the Digital Services Act. Canada has legislated through C-63, and I'm going to give evidence on that sometime in Ottawa. In the US, we've seen social media companies put up their most aggressive defenses of anything they've put out anywhere else in the world. They are spending millions of dollars on the Hill lobbying, supporting candidates, trying to prevent the inevitable from happening.
Something to do, no?
Ironically, I think what is most likely to ultimately move lawmakers are parents, and especially parents concerned about the impact of social media platforms on their children's mental health. are And that's the thing about social media, it affects everything. CCDH looks at the impact of social media, inequality on our ability to address the climate crisis, sexual and reproductive rights, public health and vaccines during pandemics, identity-based hate and children. It's a children's thing—really, it's such an irresistible case for change.
My wife and I are having our first wedding soon. I understand what you would do to protect your children from harm. I think when you have platforms that are harming our children on such a large scale, change is inevitable.
The optimist in me hopes you are right. The next generation should inherit a better world, but there is much working against it.
You know, one thing that really scares me is, we did some polling last year that showed that for the first time, 14- to 17-year-olds — the first generation to be raised by algorithmic short It was shaped. Video Platforms – They are the most intrigued race and age group of anyone in America.
Oh wow
Older people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. But as you get younger and then the 14- to 17-year-olds, bam, it's the most of them all. We did this by examining nine conspiracy theories: transphobic conspiracy theories, climate denialist conspiracy theories, racist conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and conspiracy theories about the deep state. And of each, young people were more likely to believe it. And that's because we've created an information ecosystem for them that's essentially chaotic.
And it's only getting more chaotic.
See, the way tyrants maintain power is not just by lying to the people, but by making them unable to tell them what the truth is. And creates apathy. Apathy is the tool of the oppressor. This was true with the Soviet Union. This was true with Afghanistan. There is no secret to the fact that the CCDH is the top leadership of people who come from places where we have seen this kind of destruction of information ecosystems by tyrannical regimes. So, yes, there is an awareness that things can go bad very quickly. And you are right to say that we care about our children, and we want to make our world better for them.