Can't Believe I'm Saying This!' - Fox News Segment Goes Off The Rails
The hosts of “Fox & Friends” surprised both their audience and themselves by agreeing with Democratic governors.
The discussion centered on New York Governor Kathy Hochul signing a law to combat social media addiction among kids and California Governor Gavin Newsom banning phones in schools.
Co-host Brian Kilmeade stated, “Let’s talk about discipline. It’s time to bring some discipline into the classroom, maybe for our kids. Governor [Gavin Newsom] out in California, I agree with you. Bans phones from the classroom. And now, Governor Hochul, I agree with you when it comes to social media algorithm websites. Excuse me; social media sites like Instagram and TikTok which is technically going to be banned shortly anyway. It’s time to keep them away from kids in New York.”
Co-host Steve Doocy added, “You know why she’s doing that? Did you realize — I saw this in the New York Post today — her popularity is currently lower than [President] Joe Biden’s in New York state, which is awfully hard to do. So what’s she doing? She’s coming out, and she’s saying, ‘I’m going to protect your kids.’ She knows that this is going to face a stiff headwind in the courts.” The most surprising comment came from co-host Ainsley Earhardt.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this. She’s now more popular with me. I mean, I don’t really like her policies, but I like this one,” Earhardt admitted.
Doocy countered, “I don’t know that this does that much, really.”
Earnhardt responded, “If it helps my daughter, eventually, when she gets a phone, I’m all for it.”
Governor Hochul signed the “SAFE for Kids Act,” which focuses on apps like TikTok and Instagram that use algorithms to keep users engaged for profit.
“We will save lives with this, my friends,” she announced to the audience at the United Federation of Teachers union headquarters in Manhattan, as reported by The New York Post.
“Our kids will not be commoditized,” she declared. “We will not let them make money off our kids, our babies, anymore. That is not happening here, so here we are, the first in the nation.”
Hochul also indicated her intention to target phones in schools. “The next frontier is the phones,” she told reporters.
“This is something that individual school districts right now can adopt,” she continued. “There is no prohibition on them, but to those who need the courage to be able to say that the governor made me do it, I’m happy to take that on, but we need some time to develop and get this done properly.”
The Post reported that the legislation would “prevent social media platforms from feeding users under the age of 18 content using algorithms that are tailored to keep them scrolling. Give parents the ability to pause notifications on their kids’ social media accounts between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. Bar social media companies from selling data generated by users under the age of 18.”
Tech companies are expected to challenge the law in court.
“Lawmakers clearly have good intentions with these bills, but some significant unresolved issues — including how age verification will work, which websites will be impacted, and whether algorithms used to filter out harmful content will be banned — could prevent them from being fulfilled,” Julie Samuels, President and CEO of Tech: NYC, stated.
Carl Szabo, vice president of NetChoice, argued, “This new law is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech and information access. It requires websites to block access unless visitors go through intrusive age and identity verification, directly infringing on the rights of both websites and internet users.”