Ben Carson on how social media affects children
Former HUD Secretary and neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson on a Seattle school district suing social media sites claiming they are a detriment to mental health
Reacting to a Seattle school district filing a lawsuit against social media companies for allegedly causing harm to students' mental health, former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said social media is like negative "peer pressure on steroids."
"Peer pressure is a terrible thing when it's used in the wrong way, and that's been known for many years. But with the addition of social media, it's like peer pressure on steroids in terms of the kind of thinking that it instills into our children," Carson told "Fox & Friends First."
Seattle Public Schools sued social media giants, including TikTok, Snap, Meta, and YouTube, for allegedly wreaking a mental health crisis among its student body Friday.
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson campaigning at Nashua Community College in Nashua, NH on December 20,2015. (Photo by Rick Friedman/rickfriedman.com/Corbis via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The lawsuit said that the companies' algorithms were recommending pro-eating disorder content.
The district was seeking punitive damages and for the tech companies to stop causing a public nuisance. Though the tech giants are not liable for what is published by its users, the lawsuit takes aim at the recommendations and the content promoted through the algorithm.
"Plaintiff is not alleging Defendants are liable for what third-parties have said on Defendants’ platforms but, rather, for Defendants’ own conduct," the lawsuit said. "Defendants affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as pro-anorexia and eating disorder content."
The lawsuit also said that mental health issues – such as anxiety and depression – have ballooned from 2009-2019 by 30%.
Some Seattle Public Schools students reported feeling "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row" that they stopped doing some typical activities.
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Carson said that the U.S. really needs to focus on the mask mandates, social isolation, and recess elimination that kids had to go through.
"Well, what does that do to the mind of a child? And then you throw on top of that, you may not be a girl or a boy. I mean, how are poor kids who are just being bombarded with all of this stuff?"
Ranking member Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) makes his opening statement during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, at the U.S. Capitol on April 27, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis-Pool/Getty Images) (Tasos Katopodis-Pool)
The Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Brent Jones sent Fox News Digital a statement about their lawsuit, linking the "addictive properties of social media" to mental health challenges.
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"It has become increasingly clear that many children are burdened by mental health challenges. Our students - and young people everywhere - face unprecedented, learning and life struggles that are amplified by the negative impacts of increased screen time, unfiltered content, and potentially addictive properties of social media. We are confident and hopeful that this lawsuit is a significant step toward reversing this trend for our students," he said.
Empty Classroom In Elementary School. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
"Our school district – like school districts everywhere – should be providing an exceptional education for students. We need partners to work with us as we serve our young people, rather than companies placing a priority on profiting from the digital habits they’ve created as a way of captivating our students’ attention. Our obligation is to create the conditions for students to thrive and have high-quality learning experiences."
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Fox News Digital reached out to the defendant companies for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Fox News' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.