PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Attorney General’s office is not alone in raising the alarm over social media and the dangers children can encounter.
The fight for children’s safety has made its way to Pensacola. Law firm Levin Papantonio held a town hall Monday night for parents.
They explained the addictive nature of social media and the threats that lurk on the internet.
Attorneys say the framework for making a case against social media giants closely follows national lawsuits against drug and alcohol companies.
This is an addiction case in true sense. it’s no different from the tobacco cases that we handle. It’s no different from the opioid cases we have.
Mike Papantonio called on parents Monday night, to share this message.
“Social media is killing our children, literally,” Mike said.
While working on social media adolescent addiction litigation, attorneys with the Levin Papantonio law firm noticed alarming addictive features.
“What people have to be aware of is that this draws into an addiction,” Mike said. “They have to be aware of the fact this is not a minor problem. The algorithms that have been written have been designed in such a way to maximize time on that screen.”
Levin Papantonio wants social media corporations to be held responsible for knowingly keeping children on their platforms by using “addiction” science to maximize a user’s time on their site.
“There’s a reason that a person wants to keep scrolling,” Mike said. “It’s because the algorithms have played to them specifically.
Features, like the autoplay or social validation metrics — like comments likes or reposts — are designed to keep people plugged in.
“The infinite scroll, the notification, the pop-ups, the gamification of the apps and how they work — all of these features were designed with the intention to encourage users to stay on the platform longer and to increase engagement,” said attorney Emmie Paulos said. “And kids, unfortunately, are just so susceptible to that because of where they are in their developmental stage.”
It’s a pattern grandmother Annie Wakeling noticed with her granddaughters.
“My youngest granddaughter, I noticed when I stayed all night, she does sneak her laptop into the bedroom at night, and she gets on it at night,” Wakeling said. “They’re not monitoring. my oldest granddaughter, I trust her judgment, but yet I know there can be situations that suddenly that judgment is not good.”
Dr. David Josephs, the clinical director for Lakeview Medical Center, says this makes children a perfect target.
“They don’t have the developmental capacity that we have as adults. children are not just small adults or small people. they don’t have the ability to filter out for them what is bad for them. and they are attracted to things often that are appealing, but not good for them.
WEAR News has reported on numerous social media trends that urge children to engage in dangerous, and sometimes criminal behaviors.
Kicking in front doors, teens asking young children to get in their car, kids throwing rocks at windows, each performative act filmed with the hope of gaining views, likes and acceptance.
Advice to parents from Dr. Josephs — trust your instincts when judging what’s good or bad. Monitor your child’s time online, and what they’re engaging in. Understand the features that draw them in to help break that addictive cycle.
