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Gov. Spencer Cox, R-Utah, blamed social media for fueling political division in the United States during CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday.
Correspondent Scott Pelley asked Cox about the Charlie Kirk assassination and its aftermath, speaking to the governor about what he thinks led to the murder in his state on Sept. 10. Cox said that social media stoked the anger that led to the crime.
“I do believe that social media is a cancer, and it is taking all of our worst impulses and putting them on steroids. It is driving us to division. It is driving us to hate,” he said.
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Following Kirk’s assassination by suspected gunman Tyler Robinson, Cox urged Americans to reject the cycle of political violence during an appearance on Fox News’ “Special Report.” He also lamented how social media allowed for video of Kirk’s death to be widely accessed, complained about conspiracy theories surrounding Kirk’s death spreading online.
“Those violent images that we saw are just terrible,” Cox said. “We’re not conditioned for that type of information… We’ve lost too much of our humanity, and it happens in those dark corners of social media … We just have to find a way to disconnect from that.”
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On “60 Minutes,” Cox told Pelley he believed that social media algorithms have “captured our very souls, they’ve captured our free agency.”
“These dopamine hits that get our young people — and our old people — addicted to outrage and hate, that serve us up on a regular basis, are absolutely leading us down a very dark path,” he said.
Cox continued, telling the anchor that social media platforms prey on people’s political affiliations, feeding them content that amplifies their outrage.
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“The algorithms are absolutely destroying us. Once they know what your political leanings are, then it’s like a pack of wolves that just attack,” he said. “We have this collective problem that we can’t solve because we are all sucked in, and we don’t know how to get out.”
Earlier in the interview, Cox said he thinks Kirk’s murder and the hardening division is a bad sign for the future of the country.
“Scott, I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the future of our country is at stake. This grand experiment that we embarked on 250 years ago – can we hold together?”
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