HoldsUp

Jonathan Haidt

NYU Stern

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at NYU Stern and the author of The Anxious Generation. His research primarily examines moral psychology, cross-cultural moral foundations, and political diversity within psychological science. He also investigates the effects of digital technology and social media use on mental health and adolescent well-being.

17 claims checked on air: 2 overstated 6 supported 9 unverified 2 flagged

What they said on air - unverified

0:31:10unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

Internal Meta research documents released in state attorneys general lawsuits show employees stating that Instagram functions like a drug and causes reward deficit disorder due to binging.

"while they're talking about the results of some of their internal research, one of them says, "Oh my gosh, you all, Instagram is a drug. We're basically pushers. We're causing reward deficit disorder because people are binging on Instagram so much, they can't feel reward anymore."" (said at 0:31:10)

No published record matching the claim regarding internal Meta research documents, employee statements comparing Instagram to a drug, or internal references to causing "reward deficit disorder" was located in the PubMed database; this does not prove the claim false.

0:32:11unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

A team analyzing leaked documents cataloged references to 31 internal research studies conducted by Meta that documented harms from its platforms.

"My team, we put together, we found references to 31 internal studies that Meta did. They've done a lot of research finding harm." (said at 0:32:11)

No published record matching the claim that a research team cataloged references to 31 internal studies conducted by Meta documenting harm was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:37:18unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

Internal legal documents from lawsuits show Snapchat was receiving 10,000 reports of sextortion from users each month in 2022.

"So Snapchat at Snapchat in 2022, we know from their internal documents from the lawsuits, they were getting 10,000 reports of sextortion from their users. Not a year, every month." (said at 0:37:18)

No published record matching the claim that internal legal documents show Snapchat received 10,000 sextortion reports from users each month in 2022 was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:53:20unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

A British mother filed a lawsuit in Delaware against TikTok seeking viewing data after her 13-year-old son Jules died from participating in the choking challenge.

"I met Ellen—I believe Ellen Groom, I think was her name. Her son Jules was found dead. Happy kid, found dead, strangled. It sure looked like it was the choking challenge. 13-year-old boy... And she went to Delaware to sue to demand that TikTok release: what was he watching when he died?" (said at 0:53:20)

No published record matching the claim that a British mother (Ellen Roome) filed a lawsuit in Delaware seeking TikTok viewing data following the death of her 13-year-old son Jules from a choking challenge was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:11:28unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

The original iPhone released in 2007–2008 launched without an App Store or push notifications.

"the original iPhone was an amazing tool, it was a Swiss Army knife, it had, you know, a a telephone, a browser, maps, a music player, there was a flashlight, okay? There was no App Store, there were no push notifications, 2007, 2008, it's just a Swiss Army knife." (said at 1:11:28)

No published record matching the claim that the original iPhone launched without an App Store or push notifications was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:15:38unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

The entire drop in US student educational test scores following the rollout of laptops and tablets in classrooms is driven by the bottom 50% in attention capacity.

"what we now can see is that the top students, the very best students, who are the ones with executive function, they're the ones who can pay attention. If you put a computer on that kid's desk, he's not destroyed by it. He can actually still learn. But the bottom 50% cannot. So, all of the drop in educational stats is the bottom 50%." (said at 1:15:38)

No published record matching the specific claim that the entire drop in educational test scores following classroom laptop or tablet rollouts is driven entirely by the bottom 50% in attention capacity or executive function was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:29:26unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

Prefrontal cortex myelination continues until approximately age 25.

"But then the prefrontal cortex, which Aditi was talking about, which is so important for impulse control and executive function, that doesn't finish myelinating. Myelin is when the sort of the neuron thing that you get a sort of a fatty sheath, like an insulation that sort of locks down the circuits and makes them more efficient. Um, that doesn't stop until around age 25 is what we've always said for many years." (said at 1:29:26)

No published record matching the claim that prefrontal cortex myelination continues until approximately age 25 was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:34:00unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

Following the implementation of Australia's social media ban for underage children, tech companies complied by shutting down 5 million accounts belonging to Australia's 2.5 million underage children.

"All the companies complied. They shut down 5 million accounts for Australia's 2 and 1/2 million kids that were underage." (said at 1:34:00)

No published record matching the claim that tech companies complied by shutting down 5 million accounts belonging to Australia's 2.5 million underage children was located; this does not prove the claim false. Academic analyses of Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age Act 2024) note that the legislative framework provided a transition period leading into late 2025 with platform penalties of up to AUD $50 million, and early empirical studies evaluating adolescent social media access found that the vast majority of underage users continued to access social media platforms using their own accounts rather than experiencing complete platform-wide account shutdowns.

1:37:00unverifiedvery lowBrain Rot Emergency: These Internal Documents Prove They’re

The draft of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) originally proposed an age threshold of 16 before lobbying lowered it to 13.

"And the original law said, '16. Let's try 16.' ...1998, COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. So, but various lobbying, they pushed it down from 16 to 13, and they gutted enforcement." (said at 1:37:00)

No published record matching the claim that the draft of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) originally proposed an age threshold of 16 before lobbying lowered it to 13 was located; this does not prove the claim false.

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