Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael and Davidson County Republican Party Regional Vice Chair Jackie Colbeth in studio to weigh in on Utah’s recent legislation preventing the use of social media apps of children under the age of 18.
Leahy: I won’t tell you what we’ll be talking about, but it won’t be good news for some people here in our listing audience. Right now in the studio with us, Jackie Colbeth, who’s with the Davidson County Republican Party handling media and also working with all those blue state refugees. Welcome back, Jackie.
Colbeth: Thank you.
Leahy: And, of course, the original all-star panelist, Crom Carmichael. Crom. I have a question for you and Jackie. Are you ready?
Carmichael: Yes.
Colbeth: Ready.
Leahy: Should the state of Tennessee follow the lead of Utah? Now, where is Utah leading the way? There’s a little clue here in Utah because our great Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is heading up a 50-state task force to look at the impact of social media on kids, and he’s co-chairing that with the attorney general from the state of Utah.
Carmichael: Oh, okay.
Leahy: Here’s a story from Fox News. Let me just read this and get your reaction, Crom. New laws in Utah are aimed at significantly restricting access to social media apps for children under 18 year of age. Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed two bills into law yesterday in an effort to shield minors from addictive platforms such as TikTok.
Collectively, both laws seek to prevent children from being lured to apps and from having ads promoted to them. When the laws take effect in March of next year, children under the age of 18 will be prohibited from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Age verification will be required for anyone who wants to use social media in Utah.
The door will also be open to lawsuits on behalf of children who claim social media harmed them. Tech companies are expected to sue the state before the laws can be enforced. This, according to The Associated Press. Your thoughts on this?
Carmichael: There’s a certain amount of irony for companies that are protected by Section 230 because that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to claim they can’t be sued. That’s probably the position they’re gonna take with the state of Utah.
And by the way, technology is available absolutely to know the ages of anybody who owns a phone number. If a law is passed, technology platform companies could adjust their technology so that a person under 18 cannot access TikTok unless they’re using a phone that is in the name of an adult.
Leahy: Is that what you would be recommending?
Carmichael: If I’m TikTok and I’m going to get sued, I would tell my technical people to take care of this and to make sure the 18-year-olds and under cannot access it. If they can sue me later then it’s an easy thing to prove that I had a phone and I was under 18.
In fact, I would think if I’m an enterprising person, a lawyer, I’d be getting a list. I’d be gathering a group of teenagers and having them go on to TikTok so that when they turn 19, they can sue.
Leahy: Interesting. Not an ambulance chaser; you are a TikTok chaser. (Chuckles)
Carmichael: Yes. And it’s probably not just TikTok.
Leahy: Yes. Facebook.
Carmichael: Because of the connection to the Chinese Communist Party, I’m in favor of eliminating TikTok or any that is owned or connected to anyone in China. I agree with that. They should be forced to sell. What is happening to our teenage and younger population is a problem.
Leahy: As a public policy issue. Jackie, as a public policy issue, I personally, and if you get into the law of this, that anybody under the age of 18 should not be able to access social media at all, because this is my view on it. The reason is that it’s devastating for their mental health. Your thoughts?
Colbeth: Yes. So just yesterday, I own a company that focuses on producing mental health content. I watched the hearings, and I disabled our corporate account on TikTok. I personally do not have social media because I do believe it is a scourge on your mental health. So I don’t participate.
Leahy: And your company is called Med Circle?
Colbeth: Medcircle.com. That’s it.
Leahy: And you specialize in education for healthcare professionals on mental health issues?
Colbeth: Absolutely.
Leahy: So you know something about this.
Colbeth: A little bit.
Carmichael: So you’re saying though, that the CEO of TikTok just lied to Congress?
Leahy: Through his teeth?
Carmichel: If there is a Republican administration, that could blow back on them.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “A Teen Using Her Phone” by Laura Chouette.
