Should San Diego County sue social media companies? Supervisors are split, for now – San Diego Union-Tribune
Should San Diego County sue social media companies? Supervisors are split, for now – San Diego Union-Tribune
Author: Jerry Wu
Published on: 2024-07-17 00:32:38
Source: Technology – San Diego Union-Tribune
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Amid rising support for restricting youth access to social media platforms nationwide, San Diego County has decided to buck that trend — at least for now.
The Board of Supervisors rejected Tuesday a proposal to explore suing social media companies over their platforms’ effects on young people’s well-being.
Soon after the proposal failed on a 2-2 vote, with Chair Nora Vargas absent, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who proposed the motion, said she planed to revive it at the next board meeting Aug. 27.
“It is important to do everything we can to protect the health and well-being of children, but my colleagues chose to ignore the health impacts of social media on our youth,” Lawson-Remer said. “By seeking out options to take legal action, we would be able to hold opportunistic social media companies accountable and push them to change the way they do business.”
Tuesday’s vote came amid growing discussion about social media companies and their effects on youth mental health.
Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy called for requiring warning labels on social media platforms.
U.S. teens are spending on average about five hours each day on social media apps, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, according to the American Psychological Association.
Lawson-Remer says the policy would help correct and hold such social media companies accountable for what they deemed “their failure to protect youth mental health.”
“These companies know that their algorithm rhythms create addictive use of their products, so the supervisor wants to explore opportunities to evaluate whether or not there are legal ramifications,” said her spokesperson, James Canning.
A payout from such litigation could help correct the damage, her office suggested, pointing out that the county expects to collect tens of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money from similar suits against drug companies to fight the opioid and fentanyl crisis in San Diego.
Both Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted against the policy Tuesday.
To flip his vote, Anderson said the policy would need to be amended to explore similar actions against the cannabis industry.
“I’m talking about protecting kids in my district. More kids are impacted by marijuana than they are statistically by social media,” Anderson said. “I want to do what’s most impactful for the youth in my district.”
Desmond also floated the idea of pursuing an education program to instruct children and grant parents more autonomy on the influence of social media on their families. “Where does government end and parenting start?”
Lawson-Remer’s office said that while she will evaluate changes to the policy before the next board meeting, the intent is still to focus on social media.
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