Social Media Companies Placing Profits Over People

My name is Zeke de Rose, and I am a senior attorney in the commercial litigation section at the Lanier Law Firm. And maybe more importantly for purposes of this video, I’m also the father of three young girls. One of the great things about working at the Lanier Law Firm is the opportunity to work on cases you’re passionate about, the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, not only individuals but communities, states, and sometimes even across the globe. And I think that’s the opportunity we have here in our social media addiction case in Arkansas against Facebook and Instagram, against Meta. What we’re seeing over the course of the last 10-15 years is an increase in the mental and physical health crisis with our young people. And at the same time, we’re seeing an increase in social media addiction, and that’s because these companies like Facebook and Instagram continue to put profits ahead of safety, regardless of the consequences, and they seemingly sit idly by and watch our schools, communities, and states try and pick up the pieces. And that’s because they’ve realized that the longer they can keep our young people on their apps, on their devices, the more likely they are to become addicted, and the more likely they are to become addicted, the more profitable our young kids are to them, the more revenue these companies can make. And so what they’re doing to feed that addiction is they’re feeding them provocative material, salacious material, violence, sexual content, divisive content because they want to keep them on the app. They want to keep that anticipation, that addiction, that dopamine hit, and the longer they’re on, the more money they make. But that dopamine hit of seeing that content, of having that addiction, is similar to a gambling addiction, is similar to drugs and alcohol. It’s the feeling you get when you pull the slot machine lever and it’s spinning, and you’re wondering, “What is it going to land on? What is it going to hit on?” And that’s when that dopamine hit comes, similar to when our kids are scrolling on their Instagram feed, and they’re wondering what’s going to come up next, what am I going to see? And I need to be on here. The interesting thing is that that delay sometimes, that delay in the feed of what’s coming up next, isn’t necessarily because you have a slow internet connection, isn’t because you have bad service. It’s built into the system to feed the addiction, to feed that need, and to play with that dopamine hit and that desire for more. And as we’re seeing this addiction rise, we’re seeing suicide rates go up. We’re seeing anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, loneliness, all these things that our kids, our families, and our communities are having to grapple with. Equally concerning, or more concerning, is that these companies knew and know that this is harmful to our kids, especially our girls, and yet they continued to double down because they could double their profits, they could make more money. And so I’m proud to have the opportunity to represent the families, the communities, and the people of Arkansas against these social media giants to hold them accountable.