For years, platforms from Facebook and Instagram to Snapchat and TikTok have developed addictive algorithms to keep children scrolling as long as possible. As a result, teens are on average spending 8.5 hours a day on their screens - and suffering rising rates of anxiety, depression and suicide.
What Kathy told me about her son is the tragic truth for so many of these victims: 'One mistake should not have been a death sentence.' Yet these tragedies are happening every single day because Big Tech would rather put profit over children's safety.
Just in October, reports emerged showing that TikTok developed addictive algorithms even as company executives privately acknowledged the features led to mental health issues, including loss of memory and cognition. At the same time, the platform fed self-harm and eating disorder content to minors while failing to protect them from these dangers.
Kathy Borum hugged her son goodnight on a December night three years ago, not knowing she was holding him for the last time. The hard-working student ingested a Xanax laced with fentanyl he likely acquired via Snapchat.
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