What it is, this is Tyrus filling in for B-Ride today on the Brian Kill Me Show. And joining me today is one of my favorite people. I mean, it's a small list, but every time I do the radio show, she is the first person I call. And this is the amazing Reagan Charleston. She's an attorney from New Orleans.
She's also a mom. And she had a pretty successful career in the reality TV world. And it's and also, I always forget. Uh is a business owner. And I think you're rocking some of your product right now, your cool necklaces and stuff.
Still waiting for mine, but all good. Uh all good. Um not that I you know Anyway, I don't need it. You know, I the channel. I keep saying I I but it's gotta be so big.
I'm gonna have to hire like a whole team of people to a team of scientists. Much bigger. And I don't even really have a neck.
So it's more of a trap guard. Thanks for joining me today, first of all. And I want to, again, the last time that you were on with us, we talked about a lot of things, but I find fascinating what you're doing in terms of protecting our children, particularly dealing with social media and sex trafficking and predation. And the media, social media has become the hunting grounds for pedophiles going after our kids and stuff. And you have done a lot of incredible work also helping people who have been dealing with assault, not just children, but women as well, as taking on this.
Fight, which can't be easy. There has to be very rough sleepless nights. dealing with some of the things that you've seen. Oh, indeed. I mean, the way it shaped my experience as a parent, you know, is.
It's just astounding what we're facing. And I'm not saying that sex assault and sex crimes, it's always existed, it always will. But when you talk about, and you just referenced it, the access to children now through social media platforms and gaming platforms is so troubling. And this work is so important that we're doing to not just hold these companies accountable, but make sure that parents are aware that these things are going on. No, because I want to uh play something for you and um This is uh Sarah Wynn Williams.
Check this out. One example is that Facebook was targeting 13 to 17 year olds. It could identify when they were feeling worthless or helpless or like a failure. And they would take that information and share it with advertisers. One of the things about advertising is that advertisers understand that when people don't feel good about themselves, it's often a good time to.
pitch a product, you know, people are more likely to buy something. And so what the company was doing was letting these advertisers know that these 13 to 17 year olds were feeling depressed and saying, now's a really good time to serve them an advertisement. Or if a 13-year-old girl would delete a selfie, that's a really good time to try and sell her a beauty product. I mean, it's just and and that's just on the just Mm-hmm. Going after kids in their most vulnerable state.
And that's not necessarily a predator, but it's part of the problem. is forcing people like I it's my looks And to try to capitalize on that and put them in databases. which can be checked by anyone. Who has access to them?
So it's disgusting when you think when A child takes down a a a selfie. And the first move is: oh, this is an opportunity. They're not feeling good about themselves.
So let's get them to buy stuff. That's not going to make them feel any better. Yeah, Sarah Wynne Williams is incredible, and she's written some amazing literature on this topic. And what we're seeing as these trials progress Is what the companies were ultimately aware of and what their motivations were. And it's certainly, I mean, it's the age-old problem, right?
Like profits over people, profits over protection. And when you're talking about children, I mean, that's what's so offensive. And what these companies were aware of. And, you know, one of the greatest things that came out, not just in justice for this young woman in the recent trial in LA. But that people and the public are now aware of what the companies knew through their internal studies, what the executives were aware of, and ultimately, like we just said, what the motivations were.
There's an AGs trial going on in Tennessee right now against Meta. And the evidence that's coming out and the testimony is truly incredible. When you look at the science of what our teens and young people are experiencing, and Tennessee had done some, conducted some studies showing that over the last six and seven years, that the mental injuries and mental harms that children and teens are experiencing are just so far greater than. 10, 15 years ago. Suicide rates are up.
Suicidality is up. Suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, all of these things, you know, we're starting to really look at the correlation between social media use and mental injury and harm to young people. And it's so incredibly important that we talk about this. You know, and here's the thing. And here's where the connective tissue is.
If you have a a a child And I think they're children all the way up till they're 18. I'm just because I'm raising them.
So, but when older, yeah, yeah, 20 and 23. I'll just brains are still developing, you know? But when you don't feel good about yourself, and I particularly as a father of daughters. When they are because boys. don't necessarily have to be handsome.
Boys don't have, I mean, it's still certain things, their body stuff, but girls, when they feel unattractive or ugly and depressed. That makes them less likely to want to go outside. That makes them less likely to want to interact with their peer group. which then lays them in line for online predators. who are going to convince them And make when they're already vulnerable, that they need their connection, that they understand them, that they're beautiful to them.
And that's where they, because they're no longer in a van on the corner of the street looking for. A kid walking. They are now in these groups, in these chats, in these. Looking for these kids, particularly that are. that are going through stuff and they just roll right in there.
And I feel and I know, and this I would when I I don't have Facebook anymore, but If I posted a picture of something conservative or of me telling a joke on the Gutfell show. It would be taken down in seconds. And said, not you know, the community doesn't approve this behavior and this, that, whatever. Uh, someone, you know, I are commenting on stuff, they can go after people. I I believe that they had the ability to know when a predator was was hunting and searching Young, young girls and boys, and talking to them and sending them things, and they I think I feel like.
They have the technology to know that when I'm worried about my weight, 10,000 diet pills pop up on my social media.
So I think they had the technology to deal with this.
Well, that's what we're facing right now: they certainly have the ability to enforce guardrails to create protections for their users. And that's kind of what the companies are saying, right? Like, we have protections in place, but they're clearly not good enough. And that's what these trials are showing. And if you look at the AG's trial in New Mexico with that.
Tremendous, tremendous verdict. You know, we're putting predators in our homes, you know, through using these social media apps. And there are so many different layers to this, right? Like you remarked upon the social comparison issues that we're seeing with not just young women, but young men too, and the use of beauty filters, body dysmorphia, eating disorders. These are all harms that are associated with social media use.
That is a tremendous problem and one that absolutely has to be addressed and has not been addressed by these companies. And they know that it's an issue and they're targeting youth using these features. Put that aside, let's talk about the predation issue that we've seen. Like you said, you used to have to go out or predators used to have to go out in a van to find a child, but now they're in our living rooms, our bedrooms, our playrooms through a cell phone device or a tablet or a computer using these games and social media platforms to groom and abuse children.
So, you know, we're facing so many issues that the companies absolutely have the ability to correct, and they have not corrected. The knowledge is there, they're aware of this, and certainly some of them are using it to make a buck. And that's what, you know, that's what we're out there trying to do. The laws need to be changed, and we really need to start holding these companies accountable and not allowing them to use Section 230, this archaic. Law drafted in the 1990s to protect themselves and shield themselves from liability because our kids are.
Being abused, and some of them are dying. And this is, you know, we have to do something about it. It's critical.
Well, and you make a great point. They have that. To pr protection in nineteen ninety. And 1990, it was a lot harder to get the information like it is today. Phones weren't.
I'm trying to think. I I think they weren't Was it flip phones then? Maybe? Or like, it was still a box phone. I think it was still the box phone.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it wasn't there. Like you had to go home.
to get on the internet and the whole house heard you get on it. Like, dunno, dunno, you know, and like all that stuff. Yeah. And it wasn't private. For the most part.
I mean, you still found a way. But now, literally. We always talk about, you know, you're afraid letting your kids leave the nest. The predators are in the nest now, and I know firsthand I I play games with my kids, and I got online, and that's one of the things being on the road and FaceTiming. You know, I'm a FaceTime dad a lot of times, and like I would.
Buy the PS5s or play games with them online, and we'd do Minecraft together and build cities. And then Roblox came along. And I'm playing Roblox and I'm seeing people walk up.
Now, other games, I was able to cut off the interactions and make it closed group and stuff. And people would come up with these like Easter egg toy tray like it was like Pokemon, like they had a a cool animal or I have a glass tiger, whatever the hell. And then this person will come up to them and be like, Would you like to trade? And I was looking at this, and while the trade was going on, I just happened to look at the gamer tag, the name of the thing, and I got on there and I said, and the birth date was 73, and I was like, How old are you man, and why are you talking to my kid? You know, and oh uh, I'm a 13-year-old girlfriend.
No, you're not. You know, and this was acceptable. And Roblox was, and I'm calling him out, but like, it was absolutely, I deleted. Ban, none of us can play Roblox. Roblox is gone because no matter how many times I tried to as a parent, Make it to where those people couldn't come on.
They always found a way. And it was just absolutely shocking to see it firsthand how it goes down. Yeah, we're working on the Roblox cases, and my partner, Brian Yalstock, is lead counsel in the consolidated action in California in federal court. And Roblox is I mean, just their policies are incredible, but you know, they were certainly aware of what was going on on their platform. And you know, I tell this to parents, like, are you okay?
you know, with your child being in contact with a grown man pretending to be a little girl, you know, and if they say no, well then they shouldn't have Roblox. Exactly. And you know, Roblox is the predator's platform of choice. And what you see with Roblox is that they weren't just grooming and having conversations and communicating with children, they were encouraging them to meet up off the app. And those features made that behavior and conduct possible.
And anytime there's accessibility to a child through a direct message or even just to be in touch with a child, the predators are going to use that to groom and abuse. And these companies are certainly aware of it. Law enforcement reports the abuse. Parents are reporting the abuse. Children are reporting the abuse.
And they're not doing anything about it. And it's certainly, I keep saying this, it's the age of accountability. We're lifting the covers on this and shining a light on the conduct that's not just happening online, but what the companies know and what they're not doing to protect the most vulnerable people in our country. You know, and look, I know there's there's no magic wand that's gonna stop sex trafficking. or predation on children, but you don't have to make it so damn easy for 'em.
Exactly. That's exactly what these companies are doing. They're making it easy for predators to get in touch with, groom and abuse kids. And something absolutely has to change because we're going down a really dark road. And it's again, uh unfortunately You see a lot of it and then What What shocks me is the very when it does happen.
We're not seeing the media. Outrage that I feel like, I don't feel like this is, this should just, you should be really busy. With people wanting to, with different outlets wanting to discuss, hey, what's going on with our kids? What's going on with these social media platforms and networks? What do we need to tell parents?
Why is this not a segment? And it's across the board, you just don't hear it enough. And it it really troubles me. It is troubling, and there are so many nuanced issues that are going on that I feel like the public really needs to be aware of. You know, you've got Roblox trying to enforce arbitration agreements against children that clicked through when they opened an app, so they can't have access to the courts to adjudicate their claims regarding their sexual abuse.
You've got that going on. You've got all of these issues that are largely just. Going undiscussed because the media is not really picking it up. And whether it's an interest thing or they're not, you know, they're paid for by meta or the big social media tech giants that are funneling money through. I mean, that's an issue too.
I don't know. I was relieved that when this trial was going on in Los Angeles, there was some media interest around it. And, you know, you've got Zuckerberg testifying. And so, certainly, these are newsworthy things, even to those that aren't worried about the welfare of children. But, yeah, we have to do something.
And, you know, the attorneys are beating their drums and trying to get this out there. And, you know, we're trying to inform our legislators that the laws need to be tightened up, that they need to be redrafted, they need to be reworked to protect children and hold these companies accountable. And it's hard. It's a battle. And it's one that you are taking on headstrong, headfirst.
Nothing but respect and admiration for taking on this fight. Keep up the great work. Please come back again the next time I have you on. And just for anyone who's trying to check up on you and seeing all the great things you're doing, where can they find you at? At ReaganCharleston on Instagram and callregan.com.
Thank you, Reagan. Always a pleasure. This is Tyrus filling in for the Brian Kilmead Show.
