Digital dominance: 5 women against five digital giants!

"You have blood on your hands. You created a product that kills." These are the words of a US senator last January. Facing him were the heads of the five largest social networks: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord, all accused of failing to protect children from online violence.

A Senate in uproar, and mothers mobilizing to try and force tech giants to change their practices. Elisabet in Spain is trying to ban smartphones for children under 16, while Kathleen in the United States is raising awareness about the mental health of teenagers.
In France, Socheata Sim works daily with the French police to track down pedophiles, while Laure Boutron-Marmion, lawyer for seven families, has filed a complaint against TikTok and claims: "Social media kills, we have to face it."

It's a bit like David versus Goliath, but these women want to avoid the worst. Because the worst really does exist.

Incitement to suicide

Journalist Elisa Jadot experienced this firsthand. She created an avatar, Lily, and barely filled out this fake profile. She simply indicated her age, 13, and a passion: horseback riding. On TikTok, the algorithm initially showed her videos of young girls talking about their lives on camera. Then, the videos changed. They showed teenagers crying, for example, about heartbreak. And soon, scenes of self-harm flooded her phone. "On TikTok, in just five minutes, the platform highlights videos glorifying suicide. A farewell letter, or the tearful face of a young man who wants to end it all," explains the journalist. On screen, a tutorial on how to tie a noose for hanging. And comments that incite suicide. Horrifying!

However, there is no moderation for this type of content in France, just as there is in the United States. Worse still, across the Atlantic, Article 230 of a law passed in 1996 states that no hosting provider can be considered a content publisher. This is a way of saying, "We are not responsible for what is stated or shown."

Hence the anger of these women who want to change the laws. In the American Congress, some elected officials seem convinced by this fight, like this senator who doesn't mince words in front of Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook and Instagram: "Children are not your priority. Children are your products. You see them as a way to make money. How can you even think like that?"

Intensive lobbying

In response to these attacks, the social media platforms in question intensified their lobbying efforts, spending billions of dollars. It worked: the law remained unchanged. And what about the parents in all of this? Don't they bear some responsibility? The social media bosses love this argument. Kathleen, whose daughter attempted suicide after watching hours of images promoting anorexia, has a different answer: "They took away his phone. And guess what? The school gives them computers, their friends let them connect to their devices. When you suffer from an addiction, you always find a way to continue."

This investigation contains no major revelations, but it paints a terrifying picture that underscores the urgency of the situation. A documentary of vital public interest.

Watch the documentary here:
"Digital Grip: 5 Women Against the Big 5," a film by Elisa Jadot, on France 5 and france.tv - ©Babel Doc/Together Media
https://www.france.tv/documentaires/documentaires-societe/6711838-emprise-numerique-5-femmes-contre-les-big-5.html