(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
If you were to choose three words that sum up social media,
what would they be?
Unnecessarily, tragically harmful.
After 20 years of unfettered growth,
a realisation is dawning about the true cost of social media.
I don't think Instagram wants to kill kids.
I think Instagram wants to make a ton of money,
and they don't care if they happen to kill some kids along the way.
This social experiment
has had the most profound consequences for young people.
LORI SCHOTT: We let a stranger into our house every night
that does the most horrific things
and can manipulate a child's mind.
ARTURO BEJAR: This is an urgent crisis.
Millions of teens are having their mental health compromised.
I think Mark is responsible for what happened to these kids.
Would you like to apologise for what you've done to these good people?
FAITH MURPHY: Fix it.
Your algorithms are targeting the mentally unwell and children.
Those algorithms are also spreading disinformation.
Those algorithms (INDISTINCT CHANTING)
On the eve of an American election,
democracy is under threat.
Insiders are sounding the alarm.
EDWARD PEREZ: It's a feeling Insiders are sounding the alarm.
EDWARD PEREZ: It's a feeling like you are in a car
hurtling toward a brick wall or some danger that you know is coming.
Online anger is spilling onto the streets.
These were our first social-media riots.
Inside these vast, soulless business parks of Silicon Valley
they're shaping the way the rest of us live.
But it's not all likes and cat videos.
Around the world momentum is building
to finally hold social-media companies to account. Around the world momentum is building
to finally hold social-media companies to account.
to finally hold In this episode of Four Corners
we speak to some of the key players in the fight to make that happen.
(BIRD SQUALLS)
(SOFT PRAYER ON LOUDSPEAKER)
It's early morning at a mosque
in the Merseyside town of Southport It's early morning at a mosque
in the Merseyside town of Southport in England's North West.
Don't attack other people for no reason.
Don't harm the community that you're living in.
Don't harm...
We've come to visit this community
as it recovers from a frightening attack.
Allah! Allah!
Who the fuck is Allah?!
In July
Southport imam, Ibrahim Hussein,
was here with seven other worshippers
when a mob descended.
(LAUGHTER)
(INDISTINCT YELLING)
IBRAHIM HUSSEIN: We are no match to them.
We're feeling intimidated, frightened.
(INDISTINCT YELLING)
And then, of course, they got vocal, they got louder.
And then, of course, they got vocal, (INDISTINCT YELLING)
The imam and his men barricaded themselves inside.
The imam and his men We went to watch the CCTV
and then very soon we discovered
that the smoke and the fire and then very soon we discovered
that the smoke and the fire has been thrown at the window
that the smoke and the fire and all the smoke is coming inside.
If we didn't die in the hands of the mob,
we definitely going to suffocate with the smoke.
There is young lads that were here that have got young families, we definitely going to suffocate with the smoke.
There is young lads that were here that have got young families,
and they think they're not going to see them again.
They thought they were going to die? Yeah.
Outside the chaos escalated.
It looks like we were in a war zone.
Because of a lie on social media?
Because of a lie.
Is social media to blame Because of a lie.
Is social media to blame for what happened at your mosque?
Is social media to blame Most definitely.
The attack on the Southport Mosque
was the culmination of a concerted disinformation campaign.
It began after three little girls were stabbed in Southport
It began after three little girls at a Taylor Swift dance class.
VOICEOVER: Three children who were at a Taylor Swift dance class.
VOICEOVER: Three children who were just dancing, and now they're gone.
REPORTER: The Home Secretary had earlier warned
about disinformation linked to the attack.
Social media didn't create the racial tensions in Britain,
but it's given extremists a powerful tool to spread hate.
Nazir Afzal is a former chief prosecutor for North West England.
He brought to justice
the perpetrators of violent protests in the past,
the perpetrators of violent protests but he's seen nothing like this.
NAZIR AFZAL: There was an enormous amount of comment on social media
as to the identification of the perpetrator.
as to the identification "This person's a Muslim,"
"This person's an asylum seeker,"
language of that nature,
which was wrong in all respects.
You know, disinformation is not freedom of speech, it's lying,
and openly lying
in order to encourage people to do something nefarious.
In fact, the alleged perpetrator, who was ultimately arrested,
was born in Britain to a Christian family.
Everybody forgot the three little girls that had been murdered.
You know, it really shocks me. Everybody forgot the three little girls that had been murdered.
You know, it really shocks me.
That was their motivation, allegedly.
But they didn't care.
It literally was simply an attack on black and brown people
It literally was simply an attack in this country
because they were black and brown.
What I DO know
is something is going horribly wrong in our once beautiful country.
is something is going horribly wrong Missile!
It was the worst civil unrest in the UK in more than a decade.
These were our first social-media riots.
These were our first (INDISTINCT YELLING)
People were using social media (INDISTINCT YELLING)
People were using social media to create fear.
The disinformation about the attacker's identity
had spread after a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The posts were amplified by notorious influencers
linked to the far-right,
people like Andrew Tate.
So, an undocumented migrant
decided to go into a Taylor Swift dance class today.
That's right, somebody arrived in the UK on a boat...
Shadowy extremist accounts on Telegram and others on X That's right, somebody arrived in the UK on a boat...
Shadowy extremist accounts on Telegram and others on X
with hundreds of thousands of followers
pushed the narrative further. of followers
pushed the narrative further.
X owner, Elon Musk, weighed in,
to the anti-immigration account
responding directly to the anti-immigration account
Europe Invasion. to the anti-immigration account
Europe Invasion.
JOE MULHALL: The idea that Musk would allow
an account like that on the platform
is a major problem in and of itself.
Musk, the owner of the platform,
was amplifying a voice that was an extremely dangerous voice
that contributed to the violence
we saw in the streets over the coming days.
Things really just started in Southport, but it...
Joe Mulhall monitors the extreme right
for anti-racism advocacy group Hope Not Hate.
So, you'd get some people putting it on X like this,
but you'd also get live streaming happening on TikTok.
He was aghast to see Elon Musk post during the riots
to his more than 200 million followers
that "Civil war is inevitable."
What happened in the days following that attack in Southport
had disastrous effects on our streets and in our communities,
and it wasn't Musk putting his hands up
and saying, "This is free speech."
He was engaging in it himself.
Some of the biggest players
spreading misinformation, Some of the biggest players
spreading misinformation, disinformation and hatred
in the period running up to and during the riots
were individuals that had previously been removed from Twitter
but Elon Musk allowed back onto the platform.
As a social-media riot,
we're going to have to look back at this
and see what we can learn from this.
Platforms themselves, social-media platforms,
Platforms themselves, have a responsibility,
and we didn't see it being exercised.
You say these were the first social-media riots.
You say these were the first Will they be the last?
I have no doubt that there will be other social-media riots.
To understand why Britain erupted in this way,
it's instructive to meet a far-right figure,
like Patriotic Alternative's Mark Collett.
Mr Collett uses social media to disseminate his xenophobic agenda.
His anti-immigration rhetoric
has seen him banned His anti-immigration rhetoric
has seen him banned from Facebook and X,
but he supports where Elon Musk is taking social media.
but he supports where Elon Musk MARK COLLETT: I think social media
IS important. MARK COLLETT: I think social media
IS important.
It does give you a greater reach.
And since Elon Musk has taken over on Twitter
there have been smaller accounts that have grown very large,
there have been smaller accounts and they are saying things
that under and they are saying things
that under the old Twitter establishment
they wouldn't have been allowed to say,
they wouldn't have been allowed and I think that's something
that the British government is very scared about
because they want to do something
to curtail Elon Musk's drive for free speech.
As the Southport riots broke out,
Mark Collett took to social media.
He linked the attacks on the little girls to immigration,
He linked the attacks telling his followers:
That was a false claim.
He also wrote:
So, you stand by those words?
Oh, of course.
I mean, I'm not blaming the immigrant community here.
People are saying, "We've had enough,
"we've had enough, we've had enough."
Another thing that you've said in the past
is "Diversity is a hate crime against white people."
Did I specifically say that? You were quoted as saying that.
Do you... I mean, it's a reasonable quote.
Do you... I mean, I'll take it if you want.
Diversity is something that is bad for white people
because every time somebody says, "This has become more diverse,"
it means fewer white people.
This is a predominantly white country it means fewer white people.
This is a predominantly white country
with predominantly white institutions,
with enormous amounts of institutional racism
in our system.
So, the idea that somehow this is against him and his people
is...it's just nonsense.
At Southport there was someone there wearing a T-shirt
that was very clearly linked to Patriotic Alternative.
that was very clearly linked So, that's a dead giveaway.
Hope Not Hate
discovered Patriotic Alternative figures attended the Southport riots.
We've proved by analysing footage of the riots
that individuals linked to Patriotic Alternative, We've proved by analysing footage of the riots
that individuals linked to Patriotic Alternative,
that have been active with Patriotic Alternative,
engaged in the violence on those days,
that were present at those riots.
And that comes as no surprise.
Mark Collett paints himself
as an advocate for, as he puts it,
the 'indigenous white people' of Britain.
the 'indigenous white people' But his views are far more sinister.
So, you still think But his views are far more sinister.
So, you still think that Hitler wasn't such a bad guy?
So, you still think I don't know him, I never met him,
so, I don't have firsthand experience.
He did order the extermination of six million Jews.
He did order the extermination Did he?
You don't think he did?
I don't know. I mean, I think it's an interesting question to ask.
Holocaust denial is not just historically inaccurate,
Holocaust denial is not it's deeply hurtful.
We've grappled with whether to include these comments at all.
Joe Mulhall believes it's important
to never sanitise the darkest beliefs of these far-right figures.
Mark Collett is a long-standing Holocaust denier.
Mark Collett is a long-standing He has done for many years.
He's an extraordinarily extreme figure.
He might present himself sometimes as a moderate figure,
He might present himself sometimes but there is so much evidence
about just how extreme and how pro-Nazi
about just how extreme he actually is.
This anti-immigration rhetoric
has had serious consequences
for families like Naveed Mukhtar's.
Never imagined in my life that that day will come
Never imagined in my life when I will have to leave my home.
Mr Mukhtar is a migration lawyer
and he runs his business out of his family home.
and he runs his business (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
During the riots
his business was named on a list
shared on the social-media platform Telegram,
forcing the family to leave their home.
There was racist people.
What do you know about racism?
That they're...
..not respecting other people's religions and faith.
And how do you feel about that?
Offended and angry.
Do you feel safe Offended and angry.
Do you feel safe when you go outside?
Are you able to go outside now?
Not much.
I still have the fear that something is going to happen
because these people can just do anything.
because these people They have so many people with them.
The family lives in Stoke-on-Trent,
just over an hour from Southport.
Mr Mukhtar says, since the riots,
the already simmering racial tensions in this area have worsened.
Since these riots started in the country,
racism has increased multiple times.
We can't leave our home thinking that we are safe, racism has increased multiple times.
We can't leave our home thinking that we are safe,
and I reported to the police many times and to the local city council, We can't leave our home thinking that we are safe,
and I reported to the police many times and to the local city council,
but, unfortunately, haven't received any help at all.
My children cannot go and play in the street anymore.
My children cannot go We are just living in a cage.
That hate which has been spread We are just living in a cage.
That hate which has been spread in the whole country
That hate which has been spread is affecting families like us
who just want to work.
What would you say to social-media proprietors,
you know, the likes of Elon Musk?
If you want to make profits, take more responsibility.
JOE MULHALL: The social media
are fundamentally culpable JOE MULHALL: The social media
are fundamentally culpable for what's happening.
These are vast international companies with huge resources,
and as yet
they refuse to, or they are doing it too slowly, and as yet
they refuse to, or they are doing it too slowly,
to deal with the issues on these platforms
that are having real-world effects on people on our streets.
Andrew Kaung saw this up close
when he worked as a planning analyst for the social-media company TikTok.
ANDREW KAUNG: I have seen so many videos,
people dying, people, you know, committing suicide,
people dying, people, you know, people getting beheaded
on a platform that is targeted towards younger generation people getting beheaded
on a platform that is targeted towards younger generation
on a platform that is targeted and younger people.
It's horrible.
Go away! We don't want you here! It's horrible.
Go away! We don't want you here!
"We are far too soft."
Pakistan! "We are far too soft."
Pakistan! (INDISTINCT CHANT)
TikTok says it has strict controls for those under 18.
We set up an account for an adult male TikTok user
and entered the search term 'immigration UK'
to see where the algorithm took us.
They make all these mosques and...
Within minutes the suggested content turned xenophobic and dark.
"Do Muslims have to pay council tax?" turned xenophobic and dark.
"Do Muslims have to pay council tax?"
Congress are going to be Muslims.
Soon England won't be England, it will be Islam.
The more time you spend on it,
you're going to go down further The more time you spend on it,
you're going to go down further into the rabbit hole.
That's kind of how they keep you addicted, you know, entertained.
CHOIR: (SINGS) # There is a name I love to hear
# I love to sing its worth
# It sounds like music in my ear
# The sweetest name on earth... #
Thousands of kilometres across the North Atlantic,
the United States is on the cusp of an election
where social media is more pivotal than ever before.
One of the biggest challenges that I face
is mis- and disinformation.
Joe taught me rule number one - is mis- and disinformation.
Joe taught me rule number one -
carefully hide your total incompetence.
We tracked down the tech company insiders
once responsible for managing this minefield,
and they believe social-media disinformation
is tearing at the very heart of American democracy.
EDWARD PEREZ: My name is Edward Perez.
EDWARD PEREZ: Most people call me Eddie.
I used to be the director of product management for information integrity
at Twitter.
I don't think it's an exaggeration at all
to say that this is potentially the most important election in the US,
certainly since our civil war last century.
It's a feeling like you are in a car hurtling toward a brick wall
or some danger that you know is coming,
and there's not a lot that can be done to stop it.
(SIREN WAILS) (DUCK QUACKS)
At Twitter
Eddie Perez led the team tasked with tackling false information
on politics and public health
and monitoring extremism.
He left in 2022,
just before Elon Musk took over and slashed thousands of jobs.
This is now a company that, instead of having roughly 8,000 people,
This is now a company that, instead it has approximately 2,000, I think.
So, there's a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge
that has been lost.
In terms of infrastructure and elections in particular,
even the attempt to try to achieve accuracy of information,
even the attempt to try those standards are now gone.
The attempt to balance freedom of speech those standards are now gone.
The attempt to balance freedom of speech
with quality of information and reduction of harm
was a very, very serious part of our mission.
And in its place Twitter today is...
..the most generous thing you can say is a wild, wild west.
FRANCES HAUGEN: They know they do far too little about it...
The concerns about democracy aren't confined to X.
Facebook is a company that has paid for its immense profits
Facebook is a company that has paid with our safety.
Frances Haugen was a product manager at what's now Meta.
CROWD: (CHANTS) Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Frances Haugen was a product manager at what's now Meta.
CROWD: (CHANTS) Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
After the chaos of the 2020 election and its violent aftermath,
she leaked thousands of pages of company documents.
(INDISTINCT YELLING)
So, at Facebook,
there was one area of the company, Civic Integrity, So, at Facebook,
there was one area of the company, Civic Integrity,
that was responsible for trying to make sure
that Facebook was a positive force in the world.
When they dissolved that team right after the election,
less than 30 days after people voted in the United States,
less than 30 days after people voted I knew that Facebook
wasn't going to be able to heal itself on its own.
The woman was talking about a change that has been going on Instagram...
Frances Haugen says social-media companies like Meta
Frances Haugen says are taking Elon Musk's lead
in slashing staff
hired to stop disinformation in slashing staff
hired to stop disinformation from being disseminated.
Seeing that you could fire huge numbers of people
and not face really any meaningful consequences,
and not face Mark Zuckerberg followed
and fired 20,000 employees.
They closed the only mechanism for transparency
that existed for either Facebook or Instagram.
During the US election season
there will be no tool available from Facebook
to be able to see what's going on on the platform
to be able to see even in a moderate way.
So, I would say even in a moderate way.
So, I would say Musk has done a very dangerous thing
in terms of establishing a precedent.
Meta told us it now has 40,000 people
working in safety and security,
more than it did in 2020.
DONALD TRUMP: Where is... Where is he? Come on up here, Elon!
DONALD TRUMP: Where is... (CHEERING)
ELON MUSK: We had one president who (CHEERING)
ELON MUSK: We had one president who couldn't climb a flight of stairs...
ELON MUSK: We had one president who (LAUGHTER)
..and another who was fist-pumping after getting shot.
(CHEERING)
Fight! Fight! Fight!
One of the things that has most
turned Eddie Perez off the platform he once worked for
is how X has been politically weaponised
is how by its new owner, Elon Musk.
Mr Musk's posts have become ardently supportive of Donald Trump
and sometimes disturbing in tone.
I made a joke which I realised... I deleted,
which is like, "Nobody's even BOTHERING to try to kill Kamala"
because it's pointless. (BOTH LAUGH)
What do you achieve? Nothing. Just buy another puppet.
Elon Musk, thank you very much. You're welcome.
Would the posts of Elon Musk
violate the sort of rules
that you and your colleagues were putting in place?
Certainly some of them definitely would.
Certainly It disturbs me the most
because, to me, It disturbs me the most
because, to me, what it is actually illustrating
are the really, really pernicious ends
are the really, really that come with tremendous wealth
and with tremendous power and with influence,
and when it is paired with absolute recklessness.
X has a very harmful place in the current media ecosystem. and when it is paired with absolute recklessness.
X has a very harmful place in the current media ecosystem.
Whether people are actively participating in it or not,
the ripple effects from that will be felt.
NEWSREADER: Unverified claims
about Haitian immigrants killing and eating people's pets.
Eddie Perez says one of the most powerful illustrations of this
was the false claim whipped up on social media, posted by Elon Musk,
that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets...
that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, See, I'm a different kind of... were eating pets...
See, I'm a different kind of...
..a false claim that was repeated in the presidential debate
by Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In Springfield
they're eating the dogs.
The people that came in, they're eating the cats.
They're eating...
They're eating the pets.
(DOG WHINES) They're eating the pets.
(DOG WHINES)
# They're eating the dogs They're eating... #
It flooded social media
with AI-generated Trump cat memes.
# Eat the cat, eat-eat the cat
# Eat the cat # Eat the cat, eat-eat the cat
# Eat the cat They're eating the cats
# Eat the cat # They're eating the dogs... #
EDWARD PEREZ: I mean, it would be laughable if it weren't so harmful.
EDWARD PEREZ: I mean, it would be # Talk about extreme! #
X is fundamentally operating
like a amplifier and disinformation machine,
like a amplifier almost like a factory
for these inflammatory almost like a factory
for these inflammatory right-wing messages.
The bottom line here is that there is very real human harm.
What happened to that small town of Ohio was terrible.
What happened to that small town They ended up with bomb threats.
They ended up They ended up with bomb threats.
They ended up having to evacuate schools.
It was absolute chaos for those poor people
that, frankly, were used as political pawns.
I think absolutely the United States has gone backwards
I think absolutely in its response to disinformation.
COMMENTATOR: The US Department of Homeland Security
recently tried to create an advisory board,
what it called a Disinformation Governance Board.
what it called But that board quickly collapsed.
In 2022
Nina Jankowicz was appointed executive director
of a new Disinformation Governance Board.
But this government attempt to rein in the lies on social media
was a disastrously short-lived experiment.
So, today, to herald the coming of the new Soviet America,
the administration announced its own Ministry of Truth.
Right-wing influencers started calling it a Ministry of Truth,
and within 24 hours
the board and I were the subject of many Fox News panels and reports
saying that I was going to be censoring Americans, the board and I were the subject of many Fox News panels and reports
saying that I was going to be censoring Americans,
Tucker Carlson said that I would have the power
to send men with guns to the homes of Americans with whom I disagreed,
to send men with guns to the homes which absolutely was not true.
This lady is clearly totally unfit for the task. which absolutely was not true.
This lady is clearly totally unfit for the task.
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
We're talking about the Ministry of Truth here?
We're talking about Are we talking about Orwell's 1984?
Because it sounds Are we talking about Orwell's 1984?
Because it sounds an awful like that to me.
Flooded with threats and the most toxic of online hate...
She's wildly inadequate... Flooded with threats and the most toxic of online hate...
She's wildly inadequate...
..Nina Jankowitz resigned from her position after three weeks.
No. Nada. Nunca.
The worst part was that they went after me and my family.
The worst part was that It led people to dox me,
so, to release my home address and phone number
so, to release my home address and that of my close family,
to threaten me credibly.
I, you know, had to consult with the Federal Protective Service.
I, you know, had to consult And at the time I was pregnant,
I was just a couple of weeks away from becoming a mom,
and they were threatening me and my unborn child.
and they were threatening (QUACKS)
In America
children are now at the centre of the battle against Big Tech.
American lawmakers, educators and parents
are fighting back against the social-media companies
are fighting back with a huge legal case
where 37 state attorneys-general
are joining together with school districts
and thousands of families across the country
and thousands of families to say that these platforms
are causing profound harm to young people.
Previn Warren is one of the lawyers running the case
Previn Warren is one of the lawyers against the social-media companies.
Five other state attorneys-general are running their own cases.
A lot of these parents have lost their kids,
and they've lost their kids needlessly
through the absolute wanton negligence of these platforms.
Mr Warren was at Harvard when Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook,
Mr Warren was at Harvard when and was one of its first users.
What was FaceMash? And is it still up and running? and was one of its first users.
What was FaceMash? And is it still up and running?
Facebook's forerunner was a website called FaceMash.
You put up pictures of two women
and decide which one was the better, more attractive of the two?
Is that right?
Congressman, that is an accurate description
of the prank website that I made when I was...
That's the origin story of Mr Zuckerberg's entire empire.
And fast forward to where we are now.
And, fast forwarding to where we are now,
And, fast forwarding what is the impact on teenage girls?
Its algorithm is designed
to push content at young girls
that they will find engaging,
and it sucks them down a rabbit hole that they will find engaging,
and it sucks them down a rabbit hole
of dieting tips, beauty content.
We should not be living in a society
where young women are made to feel
by powerful, rich tech companies
that they are not good enough.
Many of Previn Warren's clients
are parents of teenage users of these platforms
who allege social-media contributed to their children's deaths.
I don't think Instagram wants to kill kids.
I think Instagram wants to make a ton of money,
and they don't care if they happen to kill some kids along the way.
And what does that say about the people running that organisation?
And what does that say about I think they don't care.
I think, at the end of the day, they I think they don't care.
I think, at the end of the day, they think that they're above the law
and if they don't HAVE to change their design
and if they don't HAVE to in a way that maximises safety,
they won't.
They will put their profits first.
That is an incredibly dangerous thing for our society.
(EAGLE CALLS)
We went to a tiny town in rural Colorado
to hear just how dangerous it can be.
It's corn harvest time in Merino,
population 281.
One of the young people from this town
One of the young people is not here to tell her story,
but her mother, Lori Schott,
wants the world to know it.
Her name was Annalee Schott.
Everyone called her Anna.
LORI SCHOTT: She was an adorable little country girl.
She was about five foot tall. She weighed 100 pounds. LORI SCHOTT: She was an adorable little country girl.
She was about five foot tall. She weighed 100 pounds.
She was my shadow all growing up.
Lori Schott is one of the thousands of parents across America
Lori Schott is one of the thousands suing the social-media companies.
Why are you speaking out, Lori?
Sorry.
I've never felt such a passion...
..to make a wrong a right.
Losing our daughter at the age of 18,
Losing our daughter knowing that it was preventable,
I had a choice, you know,
either to curl up in my own sorrow and pity
or, after what I found out about social media,
to share Anna's story, to be her voice.
Anna's best friend was Faith Murphy.
She was kind.
Like, undoubtedly kind.
Always.
Mm... Jesus Christ.
To anybody and everybody. All the time.
Faith says they would spend about 10 hours a day
on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok.
Tell me about her use of social media.
Tell me about her use It was gnarly. It was bad.
Gnarly.
Non-stop.
Continuous.
She was so desperate to be on those platforms,
if you'd take her phone, she'd find an iPad.
Then I tried to figure out if she was on her school computer
Then I tried to figure out or her private computer.
She would be doing her chores, the phone was in her hand.
She would be riding in the arena with her horse,
She would be riding in the arena her phone would be in her pocket.
And it was her constant companion.
And she said she needed it for school work.
Well, I don't think that was what was going on.
She needed it because she was on these social-media platforms
She needed it because she was and did not want to give it up.
Because she was addicted? Because she was addicted to it.
Yeah. I think everyone that at that age is addicted to social media.
Anna's friends and family began to notice
that by age 16 she was losing her spark.
She was depressed.
Social media made it worse.
Journal entries show her comparing herself to images she saw online,
writing: herself to images she saw online,
writing:
Like, she would go through phases
where she was like, "Hey, just text me,"
like, "I'm deleting Snapchat, I'm deleting Instagram."
like, "I'm deleting Snapchat, And it would last,
like, a month max, And it would last,
like, a month max,
and then it was redownloaded and...
Why was she wanting
to delete these platforms?
'Cause it was toxic.
If you could see her social media,
it destroyed her with constant feeds
about how she looked, who she was,
anxiety, depression.
She wasn't sleeping
because, you know, when we let her have her phone,
because, you know, she was constantly on it.
I think she was sleeping she was constantly on it.
I think she was sleeping four hours a night.
But Instagram fed her... I think she was sleeping four hours a night.
But Instagram fed her...
..the worst content.
I feel like it is a heat-detecting missile
that finds these weaknesses in these children and just zone in on it.
that finds these weaknesses in these So, they knew that Anna's weakness
was, you know, So, they knew that Anna's weakness
was, you know, a little anxiety or depression -
"I'm going to a counsellor," looking these things up,
"I'm going to a counsellor," and it just magnified it.
And it did not stop.
And, as a parent,
you say you don't think it's going to happen to you in your family.
you say you don't think it's going It does.
Those algorithms change so quickly,
and no parent Those algorithms change so quickly,
and no parent can outsmart those algorithms.
The TikTok algorithm pushed deeply disturbing videos
on Anna's For You feed.
It curated content that constantly referenced death and suicide.
Lori Schott only discovered this after Anna died.
She found a page in Anna's journal headed 'TikToks',
She found a page in Anna's journal with the handwritten words:
It brought me to my knees.
It crippled me.
I mean, to this day I can't unsee what I saw.
How does that make you feel towards the social-media companies?
How does that make you feel I think it's disgusting.
Fix it.
Your algorithms are targeting the mentally unwell and children,
and worsen all of the shit they're already dealing with.
TikTok says it has strict community guidelines
and doesn't allow content depicting extreme violence, self-harm
and doesn't allow content depicting or promoting eating disorders.
To find out what the tech giants knew
about the dangers to young people like Anna Schott,
about the dangers to young people we've travelled here to San Francisco
to meet Silicon Valley insiders
who were alarmed at what they saw
when advising the social-media companies on trust and safety.
My name is Arturo Bejar.
For me, I mean, the reason I'm here talking with you, right, is...
..this shouldn't be happening.
And every parent should know
how bad it is.
In October 2021
Arturo Bejar emailed Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg,
to warn him of the dangers to young people.
He raised internal company research he'd worked on
He raised internal company research that showed:
More than a quarter of 13- to 15-year-olds surveyed
said they'd received unwanted sexual advances.
"Don't we run the risk said they'd received unwanted sexual advances.
"Don't we run the risk
"of normalising bad behaviour?" Mr Bejar asked his boss.
On many of the measures examined by his team,
13- to 15-year-olds were the most likely
to encounter dangerous content, were the most likely
to encounter dangerous content,
including posts about self-harm on Instagram.
And to this day - I mean, it's insane -
there's no way for a kid to press a button And to this day - I mean, it's insane -
there's no way for a kid to press a button
to let know Instagram that that happened.
Why?
Because they don't want to know.
Why don't they want to know?
Because I think that if they knew, Why don't they want to know?
Because I think that if they knew, they might be...
Because I think that if they knew, ..they might think they're liable.
I think, if they knew, they might feel
they have a responsibility to deal with it.
they have a responsibility I mean, I think that the company
cares more about protecting its reputation and the risk of a leak
than they do to understand the actual harm and reduce it.
You brought your concerns to the highest levels of Meta,
You brought your concerns right up to Mark Zuckerberg,
and what was his response?
He didn't even write back.
Arturo Bejar worked at Facebook for six years until 2015.
When he returned to the company in 2019
he was horrified to see
most of the safety measures to protect young people
most of the safety measures that his team had put in place
had been removed from the platform.
He also wrote to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri,
He also wrote to the head about his concerns.
And I had my meeting with him,
and he understood And I had my meeting with him,
and he understood everything I was talking about,
and he understood he didn't disagree with any of it.
So, that was 2021.
What did he do?
Nothing.
How does that make you feel?
Well, that's why I whistleblow.
Right?
How many kids, right?
What... What...
What is his legacy?
What is Mark's legacy when it comes to teenagers?
Right? What IS his legacy?
Eating disorders.
Teens committing suicide because of bullying and harassment.
Teens committing suicide So much harm
to the people that deserve to be protected the most.
Well... They're here.
Well... You're on national television.
Mark Zuckerberg testified
before the United States Mark Zuckerberg testified
before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee...
Would you like to apologise for what you've done to these good people?
..apologising for the harms his company had caused to young people.
Arturo Bejar was there
with the parents of teenagers who had died.
I think Mark is responsible for what happened to these kids
because if Mark woke up tomorrow morning and said,
"We no longer are going to show
"anything that has remotely to do with self-harm to 13-year-olds,"
it would take a few months for the company to be able to do that,
they have the infrastructure and the capacity to do that.
I've seen what the company can do when Mark deems it a priority,
I've seen what the company can do and I've seen how hard it is
for a company to do something if Mark doesn't deem it a priority.
So, I think he has such responsibility
when it comes to everything we're talking about.
Meta disputes Arturo Bejar's assertion that no action was taken.
It says it's implemented safety features
such as "comment warnings and kindness reminders."
The company has also introduced Teen Accounts,
which it says provides teens "with built-in protections"
and gives parents "more oversight,
"including seeing who their teens are chatting with
"including seeing "and setting time limits."
Whistleblowers question whether these measures go far enough.
If you were to choose three words that sum up social media,
If you were to choose three words what would they be?
Unnecessarily, tragically harmful.
This tiny community in Colorado
is coming to terms with the unnecessary, tragic loss
of a country teenager.
LORI SCHOTT: She was a beautiful little rider.
I still remember her backing into the box.
She just loved it.
I felt like social media just stripped her confidence.
But when she was on a horse with these guys in this environment,
But when she was on a horse she just blossomed.
What's that? Call it what you need to.
These people were her cheering squad,
so, it just crippled everybody,
and to come back to the arena without her here is hard.
Court documents revealed that in the months before Anna Schott's death
Mark Zuckerberg was warned by his own staff
Mark Zuckerberg was warned that photo filters used in Instagram
were "actively encouraging young girls into body dysmorphia."
Mr Zuckerberg dismissed the concerns as 'paternalistic'.
They knew what was happening.
If you follow my daughter's journals,
2019 - she was harmed
for the exact same things they warned Mr Zuckerberg about.
And they knew it.
How could this happen
and they're not accountable How could this happen
and they're not accountable to this day?
It hurts me every single day because my daughter would be alive,
I really think she'd be alive today...
Sorry.
..if he would have taken action.
How do you feel towards Mark Zuckerberg in light of this?
How do you feel towards (SCOFFS)
He's responsible.
I want him held accountable.
So, he needs to be held legally liable
for what's happened to these children.
And that's a hill I'm willing to die on
if I have to tell Anna's story 10,000 times.
Because he had the ability to stop it, change it,
Because he had the ability make it for the good of the kids.
Let's make this a better place. make it for the good of the kids.
Let's make this a better place. Let's get to a better yes.
You can have your billions of dollars, I guess.
But trying to improve it was not on his agenda,
and he's going to have to live with that for the rest of his life.
He does, he has blood on his hands.
Meta says when all the evidence comes out
it will demonstrate that neither the company nor any of its executives
will have any liability
and it has strict rules
against content that's graphic or glorifies suicide or self-harm.
(INSECTS CHIRP)
Anna Schott died by suicide in her own home.
She's buried on the family ranch.
It is like a slow drip of pain
that it has totally altered our family.
But I want some good to come out of this.
Each day, as the light fades across these plains,
Lori Schott looks out to see Anna's memorial cross light up.
You know, for us, it's not about the money.
You know, for us, We just want our daughter back.
But if the lawsuits
make social media stand up But if the lawsuits
make social media stand up and take responsibility and change,
make social media stand up that's where I'm pushing.
Make the world a better place, Mark Zuckerberg.
Make the world a better place, TikTok.
Every harm, every single harm,
I can see a child's face.
You know, we let a stranger into our house every night
You know, we let a stranger that does the most horrific things
and can manipulate a child's mind that does the most horrific things
and can manipulate a child's mind to that extent
that we need to say enough is enough.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)