Gov. Sanders announces plan to empower parents to sue Big Tech for role in teen mental health crisis

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Friday she will be addressing her state’s share of the national youth mental health crisis by planning to give parents the power to sue Big Tech companies and "hold bad actors accountable."

Sanders will also be addressing the issue at the World Economic Forum next week in Davos, Switzerland. She will join "The Anxious Generation" author Jonathan Haidt to discuss the role of smartphones and social media in causing harm to America’s youth.

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders (AFP Getty)

At Davos, Sanders will also join Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear for a bipartisan session discussing state priorities and state governments’ role in a presidential transition – as President Biden yields to President-elect Trump.

As for the Big Tech issue, Sanders told Fox News Digital that protecting children is paramount to her administration.

"In the past decade, across America, anxiety, depression and suicide among teens have skyrocketed, and the culprit is clear: unrestricted access to phones and social media," she said.

"Under my leadership, Arkansas will act to empower parents and protect kids."

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"I look forward to … Davos to talk about this critical issue and how my administration is stepping up to hold Big Tech accountable."

In terms of addressing Big Tech’s alleged role in accentuating the nationwide youth mental health crisis, Sanders noted that she had previously launched a phone-free-school pilot program in 2024. The program offers schools state funding for phone pouches to prevent use during the school day.

Sanders, whose father, Mike Huckabee, previously served as Arkansas governor, said she plans to update the state’s Social Media Safety Act as well.

In terms of holding Big Tech responsible in the mental health crisis, Sanders said that "modern threats … require modern solutions."

"Nowhere is that truer than with our kids," she said in her State of the State.

"In the past decade, across America, suicide rates among teens have tripled, self-harm among girls has risen by nearly 200%, and depression among teenagers has increased by 150%. The culprit is clear: unrestricted access to phones and social media."

She had invited a Centerton, Ark., mother whose 16-year-old son took his own life after going from an active, sports-loving teen to one who spent more and more time watching social media videos on his phone.

Social media applications are seen on an iPhone screen. (Getty)

The boy’s mother tried to take his phone away, and he eventually retreated to his room, where within 13 minutes he had already taken his own life.

"Months later, reeling from grief," Sanders said, "[The boy’s mother] decided to go through [his] phone. She got on his TikTok, and what she saw shocked her: video after video giving step-by-step instructions on how to take his own life."

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"We will give moms like [her] the right to sue Big Tech companies under state law, so that they can hold bad actors accountable."

In a recent New Yorker interview, Haidt – the author appearing with Sanders at Davos – expressed shock at the difference between the "You’re sitting too close to the television, your eyes will burn out" generation and the new generation being warned about the pitfalls of social media.

"The technological environment in the '90s was miraculous. We loved it. The millennial generation grew up on it. Their mental health was fine. . . . And then in 2012 and 2013: Boom. The graphs go way, way up. Mental health falls off a cliff. It’s incredibly sudden," Haidt said.