Misinformation is tearing our country apart, and trust in our institutions, and in each other, is at an all time low. Some experts think we're at a breaking point, and new technologies are only going to make misinformation more persuasive - and more corrosive. To learn about the importance of social media and AI regulation for the protection of our information ecosystem, we talk to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and tech regulation expert Sam Gregory.

Is it possible to pull the country back from the brink? Or have we already lost the battle for reality? Peter Macleod talks us through one possible step in the right direction.

Audio courtesy of C-SPAN and the PoliticsWatchDog Facebook page.

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A TikTok influencer with tens of thousands of followers is convinced that the world is controlled by an evil cabal of pedophiles. How does someone come to harbor such extreme views? And what happens to our politics - and our society - when those views start resonating with a growing number of people?

In this episode, we meet Colin Big Bear Ross, a Freedom Convoy influencer who strongly believes in a number of conspiracy theories. Then we hear from Frank Graves, who helps us understand how bad the issue of polarization has really become. And finally, we take a look at these issues from the political figures' point of view with BC Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and MP Michelle Rempel Garner.

Audio courtesy of @bigbearmovement on TikTok and the Harvard Kennedy School.

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How can parents tell if a teen's social media use is harming their mental health? Hosts Taylor Owen and Nicole Edwards are joined by a teen with a powerful story about the complicated relationship young people have with these platforms.

Guest Sarah Banet-Weiser, Director, Annenberg Center for Collaborative Communication, unpacks what makes photo and video apps so magnetic, and why they generally affect teenage girls differently than boys.

Next, Candice Odgers, a psychologist who specializes in new technologies and youth mental health, discusses the latest research on the effects of social media on teen mental health, with tips on how to support teens while they use these platforms.

FIND OUT MORE:

For further reading on how to talk to teens about their social media experience, consider Common Sense Media’s guide, Help! My Kid Wants to Use Social Media

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/help-my-kid-wants-to-use-social-media

For more information on the Facebook research leaks, listen to the Wall Street Journal’s series, The Facebook Files

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-a-podcast-series-11631744702

For support with disordered eating, visit the Canadian Mental Health Association’s resource guide

https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/understanding-and-finding-help-for-eating-disorders/

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Is a rise in screen time changing the way children's brains develop?

Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Boston Children's Hospital Digital Wellness Lab, explains how the infant brain works and how it responds differently to online and offline activities.

Pediatrician and clinical researcher Dr. John Hutton walks co-hosts Nicole Edwards and Taylor Owen through his research using MRI to study the effects of screen time on white matter in preschoolers.

Finally, Dr. Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, Director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University, explains why not all screen time is equal, and shares tools to help evaluate the quality of the content kids are consuming.

FIND OUT MORE:

Read the study by Kathy Hirsk-Pasek et al.: “How educational are ‘educational’ apps for young children? App store content analysis using the Four Pillars of Learning framework”

https://kathyhirshpasek.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/03/How-educational-are-educational-apps-for-young-children-App-store-content-analysis-using-the-Four-Pillars-of-Learning-framework.pdf

The Canadian Pediatric Society’s age-based recommendations for screen use:

https://cps.ca/tools-outils/digital-media-and-screen-time

Visit Common Sense Media for reviews of age-appropriate content, like apps, TV shows and books: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

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The metaverse might seem like an abstract world, but kids may already be living in it. Some researchers say popular gaming platforms like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft are early versions. With kids spending so much time playing virtually, hosts Nicole Edwards and Taylor Owen find out whether online friendships are as healthy as in-person socializing for youth.

Guest Katie Salen Tekinbaş; is a game designer, UC Irvine Informatics professor, and co-founder of a youth-led Minecraft camp called Connected Camps. She outlines the similarities between metaverses and popular gaming platforms, and the artificial division between 'real life' and 'online life' that some parents make with their kids.

Guest Chris Ferguson, a psychologist and video game researcher, explains how friendships between kids who have never met can feel so real, whether there are substantial differences between in-person and online friendships, and the unique advantages that come with having strong ties in digital spaces.

FIND OUT MORE:

Read about Katie Salen-Tekinbaş’ organization, Connected Camps https://connectedcamps.com/

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A show about how technology is changing childhood.

Episode 1 will be released on March 10th.

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In the winter of 2022, thousands of Canadians descended on Ottawa for the Freedom Convoy. It was one of the largest displays of civil disobedience in the country's history - a movement by Canadians, for Canadians. But if that's the case, why did Russia's state controlled TV networks send correspondents there? And why did messaging groups devoted to the Convoy start posting press releases from the Kremlin?

Was the Freedom Convoy a Russian influence operation? To find out, we talk with foreign interference and disinformation experts Caroline Orr Bueno, Marcus Kolga, and Aengus Bridgman.

Audio courtesy of @RT_com on Twitter/X and Fox News on Youtube.

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After Alexandre Bisonette was arrested for murdering six Muslim men in cold blood, investigators looked into his internet history and found that he'd fallen down a far right rabbit hole.

In this episode, we take a step back from the pandemic to tell a story about online extremism, the political utility of conspiracy theories, and how misinformation can lead to bloodshed.

With the help of Canada's Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, and sociology professor Jasmin Zine, we unpack the cultural impact of the 2017 Quebec mosque shooting and M103, as well as the ,Islamophobia Industry, that has rapidly developed online. Finally, Claire Wardle walks us through ,The Trumpet of Amplification,, which shows us how conspiracy theories like those around M103 end up in the mainstream.

Audio courtesy of the Rebel News Youtube channel.

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Before a COVID vaccine had even been announced, prominent anti-vaxxers were working on a plan to discredit it. It's unclear whether their plans were driven by greed or by ideology, but one thing is clear: there's big money in espousing conspiracy theories.

And a doctor who lost his medical licence for spreading COVID misinformation tells his side of the story. Could the line between truth and fiction be a little blurrier than we initially thought?

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When the pandemic hit in 2020, it suddenly seemed like conspiracy theories were everywhere. But where did those ideas come from? And why did so many people believe them?

Selena Paley, the co-founder of an alternative media outlet called Freedom Central, explains her anti-vaccine views and talks about her experience as part of the Freedom Convoy in 2022. Journalist Justin Ling then tells the story of the Freedom Convoy from an outside perspective.

Journalist Anna Merlan explains why and how people believe conspiracy theories. And national security expert Stephanie Carvin explains how the forces of online misinformation and conspiracy thinking are at work in Canada.

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When the pandemic hit in 2020, it suddenly seemed like conspiracy theories were everywhere. Did Bill Gates put a microchip in the vaccine? Is the World Economic Forum trying to take over the world? Was the pandemic orchestrated by a secret cabal of elites? A recent poll found that 1 in 4 Canadians believe in online conspiracy theories. Which means that we're no longer just living in different information bubbles. We're living in different realities. On this season of Screen Time, Taylor Owen and Supriya Dwivedi dive into the murky world of online conspiracy theories and misinformation. They'll expose the bad actors trying to distort the truth for personal gain, and speak to the Canadians occupying these alternate realities to try and understand how they got there - and how we might bring them back.

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When it comes to data, tech companies treat anyone 13 and over as an adult. How did this happen?

Hosts Taylor Owen and Nicole Edwards explore how the internet's definition of a child goes back to a single American law passed in the 1990s.

Then, we hear from Baroness Beeban Kidron, an advocate for children's digital rights and member of the UK House of Lords. She has pushed through new legislation in the UK that's forcing companies to reimagine how they engage with kids online, with ripple effects around the world. What will this mean for kids in Canada and the future of the internet?

FIND OUT MORE:

Visit 5Rights Foundation, founded by Beeban Kidron:

https://5rightsfoundation.com/

Read “How 13 Became the Internet’s Age of Adulthood” in the Wall Street Journal:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-13-became-the-internets-age-of-adulthood-11560850201

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Every parent is forced to make tough choices about how much freedom to give their child online. How do you decide what the limits are? And what's the right level of risk?

In this episode, hosts Taylor Owen and Nicole Edwards set out to find out just how worried we should be about teens' online safety. Two experts in children's digital rights weigh in. Sonia Livingstone, author and professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, makes the case for giving kids more freedom online. Valerie Steeves, professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, argues that we should be more concerned about data collection than security.

Find out more:

Read more research and insight from the eQuality Project, which Valerie Steeves co-leads:

https://www.equalityproject.ca/

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YouTube is an ever-expanding video library that's home to a huge range of content-most of which is intended for adults. The difficult task of curating children's experiences on the platform often falls to parents. Co-hosts Taylor Owen and Nicole Edwards explore the reasons YouTube Kids isn't a quick fix for this problem, and how YouTube's profit model and design affects its youngest users - from rabbit holes to radicalization.

Guest Becca Lewis, a researcher who studies influence-building and micro-celebrities on social media platforms, details the cycle that can inch kids and creators towards increasingly controversial content on YouTube.

Guest Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an organization working to end advertising to kids, recalls bringing a landmark case against Google, which owns YouTube. He explains how a loophole allowed YouTube to operate as though no kids under 13 were using the platform. He also shares what else can be done to inform parents and kids about how YouTube uses their data.

Co-hosts Taylor and Nicole round out the episode with some actionable tips for families to get started with safer YouTube use.

FIND OUT MORE:

For more information on how Youtube handles kids’ data and safety, read their guide, How does YouTube help keep children protected on the platform?

https://tinyurl.com/ycy9xxuh

For help setting parental controls and other safety features on Youtube, visit Common Sense Media’s guide, Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-youtube-kids

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