Social Media has been shown to cause negative effects and cause harm to users. Cyber Harassment, Addiction, Fraud, Scams, Hacking and Abuse have occurred on various Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and others, that caused anxiety, fear, profound depression, and even have led to suicides in users. Social Media also has been used by Pedophiles to groom and track their underage victims and commit horrific crimes against children.
Facebook whistleblower testimony to Congress:
“The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won’t make the necessary changes because they put their astronomical profits before people.”
Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower, Testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Tuesday, October 5, 2021
“The research was Facebook’s internal research. So they knew what they were doing, they knew where the violations were and they know they are guilty.”
“Facebook is not interested in making significant changes to improve kids’ safety on their platforms, at least not when that would result in losing eyeballs on posts or decreasing their ad revenues.”
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, (R)Tennessee, U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Tuesday, October 5, 2021
“The damage to self-interest and self-worth inflicted by Facebook today will haunt a generation.”
“Big Tech now faces the Big Tobacco jaw-dropping moment of truth.”
“Our children are the ones who are victims. Teens today looking in the mirror feel doubt and insecurity. Mark Zuckerberg ought to be looking at himself in the mirror.”
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut, U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Social Media Negative Effect: Cyber Harassment and Cyber Bullying
Perpetrators have found Social Media Platforms fertile ground to harass, bully and threaten other users under the guise of anonymity using multiple accounts on Instagram, Snapchat and others.
Threats of Imminent Bodily Harm
Social Media negative effects include the ability make threats of imminent bodily harm on innocent users. Predators use Social Media to threaten victims. Social Media Companies claim immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act stating the companies are not liable for the harm of the content posted by their users. These same platforms do not respond to law enforcement by their designed discretion whether or not to respond to valid Court Orders. There have been numerous reports of Snapchat being used to make threats against schools.
Cyber Harassment may be Defamation
Harassment can take many forms on Social Media. Defamation of individuals and business occurs on Social Media. Though Social Media Platforms claim immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the person who publishes the harassing or untrue information on Social may be liable for the damages caused to the individual or business.
Grooming for Child Abuse
Social Media platforms have features that are attractive to children that also make these same Social Media platforms attractive to criminals to track and cause harm to children. There have been incidents where the Perpetrator trolled, discovered and groomed children only to track their victims and commit sexual assaults. Using multiple accounts and personas, pedophiles use these Social Media platforms believing their criminal activity is not tracked to commit unspeakable crimes against children.
Social Media Addiction
Social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives and peer pressure.
The risks might be related to how much social media teens use. A 2019 study of more than 6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems. Another 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.
Other studies also have observed links between high levels of social media use and depression or anxiety symptoms. A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use and emotional investment in social media — such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on — were each linked with worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.
Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/teens-and-social-media-use/art-20474437
Stop Social Media’s Negative Effects
There are several ways to fight some of Social Media’s Negative Effects. If you are a victim of Cyber Harassment or Cyber Bullying and the harassment involves threats of imminent bodily harm or death, take screenshots or videos of the criminal material and immediately call Local Enforcement. You should also attempt to block the offending user and use the Social Media Platform’s reporting tools or messaging service to alert the Social Media Platform. Also if the Platform, like Snapchat, has a Map tracking feature, immediately turn it off or to Ghost mode to prevent others from seeing your exact location. Most Platforms claim in their Terms of Service that threats of violence will not be tolerated on the Platform, however, the Social Media Platforms continue to allow violations to flourish or do not enforce their own Terms of Service. Lee Davis has appeared on CBS Pittsburgh discussing the inability to contact Snapchat when confirmed threats of imminent bodily harm happens to users.
Call or Fill in the Form Below to Fight Back against the Social Media’s Negative Effects
Lee Davis handles cases for adults and children that have been victimized on Social Media. While perpetrators bear responsibility for their criminal acts, Lee Davis handles cases against Social Media Platforms to hold them responsible for the real harm these Platforms knowingly allow to happen to victims. Lee Davis has more than 30 years holding corporate wrongdoers accountable. The Platforms are aware that Cyber Harassment and Cyber Bullying occur on their Platforms and give their users a false sense of security that safety measures like one account per user are enforced when these policies are not enforced and abuse occurs.