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WASHINGTON — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox faulted social media for being a driving force behind the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk by fomenting extremism and poisoning the national discourse.
While acknowledging that law enforcement is still working to fully understand suspect Tyler James Robinson’s motives, Cox argued that social media outrage culture is radicalizing young adults.
“I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years. There is no question in my mind,” Cox told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“Cancer probably isn’t a strong enough word. What we have done especially to our kids, it took us a decade to realize how evil these algorithms are. And we’re doing everything in Utah. First state in the nation a couple of years ago to pass comprehensive reform.”
Social media has long been a target for Cox, a father of four who has been governor since 2021.
In 2023, under Cox’s watch, the Beehive State passed the Utah Social Media Regulation Act, which requires age verification for users, restricts advertisements from targeting minors, lets parents sue companies for harm and more.
That law has faced multiple legal challenges. Last year, a judge blocked parts of it from taking effect due to First Amendment concerns, prompting some changes to its text.
So far, there are sparse details about the role that social media may have played in the radicalization of 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting Kirk in the neck as he spoke with students at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Cox teased that more details will trickle out after he gets formally charged on Tuesday.
Former classmates of Robinson described him as being “very online” and a “Reddit kid.”
Cox made clear that there is more he would like to see get done to tackle his concerns with social media.
“I can’t emphasize enough the damage that social media and the internet is doing to all of us, those dopamine hits,” the Utah Republican stressed. “The most powerful companies in the history of the world have figured out how to hack our brains, get us addicted to outrage … get us addicted to outrage, and get us to hate each other,” he continued.
“The conflict entrepreneurs are taking advantage of us. And we are losing our agency. And we have to take that back. We have to turn it off. We have to get back to community, caring about our neighbors.”
Late last week, the Utah Republican urged Americans to get off social media platforms and to “touch grass.”
He also decried the dissemination of gruesome assassination footage, arguing that humans haven’t evolved in a way to show that “we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery.”
Kirk, 31, leaves
English (US)