'Our children are being radicalized': Democrats blame social media for political violence

Plus: Secretary of State Walter Mosley joins us for a CapCon Q&A.

Good afternoon — it’s Tuesday and World Snake Day. 🐍

TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2024

• Have a question for Gov. Kathy HOCHUL? CapCon will interview Hochul this week at Hearst Tower in Manhattan. Reply to this email with questions you think we should ask her. Subscribe now to get access to the full one-hour interview.

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• Is social media to blame for political violence? N.Y. Democrats say yes.

• Campaign filings are out. We’ll start with a small dose and continue digging.

• Secretary of State Walter MOSLEY joins us for a CapCon Q&A.

☀️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Rain likely, low 70s. New York City: Storms likely, high 70s. (National Weather Service)

---

(Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press)

📱 ‘Our children are being radicalized’: Democrats blame social media for political violence

💻 Two of the state’s top Democrats are blaming social media platforms for creating an environment that breeds hate.

You can’t avoid politics on social media.

Even on platforms like LinkedIn, which is supposed to be geared toward professional relationships, you’ll find your connections posting about their political positions.

• You might then feel like you have to respond. 

• If you don’t agree with someone’s comment, maybe you’ll want to let them know.

Those conflicts can get nasty, and New York City Mayor Eric ADAMS said Tuesday that the culture of social media has fueled those interactions.

“Social media has made people mean and nasty and they do harmful things from the corner of their living rooms and homes,” Adams said.

We’re living through the first time in U.S. history in which some children have never lived in a world without social media. That’s something to think about.

Just two years ago, more than half of teens said it would be difficult for them to give up social media, according to the Pew Research Center

• .And a little bit less than half said they’re on the internet constantly.

Adams said social media companies don’t have strong enough guardrails in place to prevent those teens from reaching content that might influence their ideology.

“Our children are being radicalized,” Adams said. “We need to have a real plan to stop it and I’m not going to pretend like it’s not a problem because I’m seeing it every day.”

Adams and Hochul (New York Governor’s Office)

🖱️ Adams and Hochul are on the same page.

It’s not necessarily a new opinion but there’s been renewed criticism of social media companies since former President Donald J. TRUMP was shot Saturday.

New York approved legislation this year to change how social media platforms interact with children.

But there’s nothing that requires those companies to more strictly monitor their platforms for hate groups.