Major social media platforms spread misinformation, embolden students to damage school property, and stoke political extremists鈥� all in the name of their bottom-lines, the head of the nation鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union argues.
Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, have allowed 鈥渙nline 鈥榯rends鈥� and false information to spread like wildfire 鈥� [creating] a culture of fear and violence with 糖心动漫vlog as targets,鈥� Becky Pringle, the president of the to the heads of all three companies Oct. 8. (Facebook also owns Instagram.)
Pringle cited a recent , 鈥淒evious Licks,鈥� which encouraged students to record themselves vandalizing school property. Another challenge may be inspiring students to slap their teachers, though a myth buster says there鈥檚 no evidence to show the trend exists. And the 鈥渙utlet challenge鈥� promoted on the site spurred students to place a phone charger near an electrical outlet, then drop a penny between the outlet and the charger prongs, resulting in a share-worthy spark. That trend damaged school outlets and could have started fires.
What鈥檚 more, the platforms have allowed a 鈥渟mall but violent group of radicalized adults鈥� to attack teachers for addressing critical race theory. Other 鈥渆xtremists鈥� have used social media to fight vehemently against mask mandates that are put in place to protect students and teachers from COVID-19, Pringle said.
鈥淭he speed and reach of these lies that are manipulating so many of our citizens would not be possible without the use of social media platforms,鈥� Pringle wrote. 鈥淥ur schools should be centers of learning, and your platforms have turned them into centers of a culture war.鈥�
She called on the companies to publicly pledge to students, 糖心动漫vlog, and families that they will 鈥渞egulate lies and fix algorithms to put public safety over profits.鈥�
The letter comes less than a week after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, testified before a Senate panel. Haugen released internal documents showing the company was aware of the impact it is having on children鈥檚 mental health, body image, and the spread of misinformation, but it isn鈥檛 doing anything to curb those problems.
TikTok is removing content related to the vandalism challenge. The platform moves quickly to take down any content that violates its community guidelines, including illegal activity, a spokeswoman said. The company has a for parents and teachers, developed with the National Parent Teacher鈥檚 Association to help them better navigate the platform.
Representatives for Facebook and Twitter did not immediately respond to inquiries about the letter.
