TRANSCRIPT:
Sometimes the good guys do win. Today was one of those days.
Today was the first time ever that in a court of law, big tech social media companies, two of them in fact, were held liable for their product design harming somebody. It's never happened before. These products are designed to be addictive. They use a lot of the same techniques that Las Vegas casinos use.
And look, falling into addiction as you scroll infinitely, is it the worst thing in the world? Maybe it doesn't feel like it. Maybe it feels like, oh, I looked up, and I just lost two hours of my life. Well, that kind of sucks, but it's not a big deal. But for some people, it really is a big deal. For some people, they fall into really excessive habits with this stuff and it can have tragic outcomes. People lose their lives. Kids lose their lives. And, for years, parents of these kids have been saying this is a real problem. And, for years, these big tech companies have shined them on and never been held accountable.
Today was the first time Meta and YouTube lost this lawsuit, and it's going to open the door for a lot more lawsuits moving forward. That feels like a good first step towards the right thing happening for the families who have suffered real tragedies, but also, honestly, for every family. Because for every one family who's suffered a really extreme tragedy, there are also millions of families who struggle with this in smaller ways. I think that adds up as a society when not only kids, but just everybody becomes so addicted to these products that ultimately rewire your brain and make it harder to think straight. Make it harder to pay attention. Make it harder to focus on something complicated. Make it harder to relate to people in real life. What does that do to your society? Well, we're seeing it.
So I find this also a really encouraging step forward towards the world just recognizing that our digital world needs to be upgraded, and it can be. The internet can be something better than what it has become under the domination of this small handful of gigantic tech companies and their engagement maximizing algorithms. Whether if those are social media companies or AI companies, because really they're all just doing the same thing. So today, I think it's worth taking a breath and celebrating a victory. But I also think it's worth acknowledging that this is a really good first step in a long and ongoing marathon of a fight that affects us all.
