If your child or family has been adversely affected by social media, the Tennessee Attorney General’s office wants to know.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading the bi-partison effort among all 52 state attorneys general to investigate multiple social media companies for misusing their influence on children.
Skrmetti has hosted town hall sessions across the state to get in touch with families who have faced problems with multiple sites, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, Youtube, and others, according to their website.
“As we investigate, if we find that we have to start litigating these issues, we’re going to need witnesses,” Skrmetti said, “We have medical experts, we have educational experts, we have technology experts. We need a human face for these stories to let people know, not just the statistics about the damage that social media can cause, but the stories of actual people who’ve been harmed and families that have been hurt by this.”
During the town hall, Skrmetti spoke with a youth minister, physician, and teacher about the harmful effects of social media.
“One of the reasons that we’re trying to get attention drawn to this, and going out and talking about it, is to make sure that parents are aware that it’s not just a waste of time or that it’s using a lot of kids’ time, but that there are actual negative effects here. And social media is not all bad. These companies were started with an idea of connecting us all. And there are a lot of good things that come from being able to access more information and connect with more people. But the sites are designed to be addictive. And kids are particularly vulnerable to that sort of thing, and the data just doesn’t lie. Kids have been hurt by this. And so we want parents to be aware of this so that they can make better decisions about how they’re raising their children.” Skrmetti said.
To find out more about the investigation, or to fill out a contact form, click here.
Julia Ewoldt, julia@jacksonpost.news
