How Do We Save Kids from Social Media?

"So you have all these parents whose kids have been killed or damaged, and not one has ever gotten justice. Not one has ever even been able to face Meta in court. Meta has never faced a jury. None of these companies have ever faced a jury, because they keep saying, 'Section 230, you can't touch us.'"

"We know from Snap that they were getting ten thousand reports of sextortion from their users in 2022. And that wasn't ten thousand a year, that was ten thousand a month. And, as they said themselves, this is probably the tip of the iceberg, because most people don't report."

"How insane is it that the makers of one of the largest consumer products in the world-that is the one that most children use, that seems to be harming and killing a lot of them-can never be held responsible for their actions?"

Section 230 was originally designed to encourage content moderation by protecting companies from liability for user-generated content. However, courts have interpreted this protection so broadly that social media platforms face no legal accountability despite widespread documented harms to children. Snapchat received ten thousand sextortion reports monthly in 2022, with experts noting this represents only a fraction of actual incidents. Research indicates twenty to thirty percent of girls report mental health damage from social media use. Parents of harmed or deceased children have never successfully sued major platforms, as companies consistently invoke Section 230 immunity. This legal shield protects the makers of products most children use despite evidence linking these platforms to sextortion, eating disorders, and suicide.

Read at The New Yorker