8. I Sung of Chaos

8. I Sung of Chaos

From Everything Is Fake by BBC Radio 4

March 25, 2024 · 32 min · Season 1 · Episode 8

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of social media on mental health and the potential regulation of tech platforms following significant events in the digital landscape.

On 30th September 2022 a coroner in London finds that Molly Russell "...died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content." The finding is a global first. Social media is ruled to have contributed to the death of a child. In San Francisco, around the same time, a strange story is unfolding inside Twitter HQ. Ever since Donald Trump's account was suspended on twitter, tensions have been building around what is and isn't allowed on platforms. Elon Musk shares internal staff documents with a hand-picked group of journalists. One of those journalists suspects these documents show collusion between tech platforms and the US government. Politicians and civil groups on both the left and right from across the world, want the power and influence of these companies to be reigned in. There's even talk of repealing section 230 - the law that created modern social media. In this final episode, Jamie Bartlett asks if Silicon Valley's radical experiment is about to implode? And if the online world is chaotic now, what will advances in artificial intelligence mean for us all? Presenter: Jamie Bartlett Producer: Caitlin Smith Sound design…

People in this episode

Host: Jamie Bartlett

Topics covered

  • social media impact
  • mental health
  • online content regulation
  • Silicon Valley
  • artificial intelligence
  • political influence

Keywords

  • Molly Russell
  • self-harm
  • depression
  • Elon Musk
  • tech platforms
  • government collusion
  • section 230
  • AI advancements

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Twitter, BBC Radio 4, CNN, BBC News, C-Span, BBC Archive

Places: London, San Francisco

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