When cars were first introduced, they were celebrated as marvels of modern innovation. However as their popularity exploded, so did a tragic truth: people were getting seriously injured or killed in crashes. For decades, automakers resisted regulation. Consumers shrugged off safety features as unnecessary, and governments moved slowly. It wasn’t until the data was undeniable and the loss of life too great that we mandated seat belts, crash testing, and traffic laws. Safety became non-negotiable. We’re at that same critical inflection point with social media and the parallels are impossible to ignore.

Social media platforms were built to connect us. However much like the earliest cars, they were unleashed on the public with no real safety infrastructure, required safeguards or accountability for harm. There are no standards to protect the most vulnerable and we’re now seeing the consequences in full force:

• Online scams and fraud have become a global epidemic, with billions lost annually. Social media is a primary entry point for fraud schemes from investment cons to romance scams and phishing attacks.
• Teens are increasingly targeted in dangerous online trends, sextortion schemes, and harassment campaigns. These aren’t just one-off tragedies, they are systemic failures of platform design.
• Mental health crises, especially among adolescents, are deeply intertwined with algorithmic content delivery, social comparison, and exploitation.

From speeding cars to accelerated digital harm, we are witnessing digital collisions every day and yet, the platforms remain largely unregulated. Part of the reason for this is Section 230. 

Section 230 is part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It was enacted to regulate indecent content online but has now become a virtual legal shield for internet giants. It means platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, Truth Social, YouTube or TikTok cannot be held legally responsible for content posted by their users essentially treating these platforms as “neutral hosts” rather than publishers protecting them from libel, fraud or harassment posted by users. Supporters of this section tout free speech and freedom of expression. The question is - at what cost? Immunity for tech giants to cash in while users suffer online harm, scams, abuse, theft, extortion even death all while the platform profits. Note the year - 1996 - almost THIRTY years ago. I’m pretty sure things have evolved more than can even be quantified. What started as a protection from emerging internet threats now protects billion-dollar platforms leaving users to swim in a virtual pool of sharks at their own risk. As long as that “swim at your own risk” sign is posted, tech mega-giants can sit back and profit while the rest of us are eaten alive.

We Don’t Let Automakers Ignore Safety. Why Are Tech Platforms Exempt?

Just as we eventually required seat belts, airbags, and speed limits, we must now demand built-in safety mechanisms for social media platforms, especially when it comes to fraud prevention and child protection.

That means:

• Mandated tools to detect and block scams, not just “report” buttons.
• Age-appropriate design requirements to protect minors from explicit content, predators, and algorithmic harm.
• Stronger enforcement of identity verification, to curb impersonation and fake accounts.
• Transparency with AI-created content and deepfakes
• Real legal consequences for platforms that enable known criminal activity.

Self-Policing Doesn’t Work

Tech companies say they’re taking safety seriously just as car manufacturers once claimed seat belts weren’t needed. But voluntary changes are not enough, and reactive PR-driven safety campaigns do little to stop the deeper issues. We don’t let car companies set their own safety rules. Why are we still letting tech giants do it? We are left to fend for ourselves and blamed when we are victimized. Parents are blamed when children are harmed by trends or sextortion on social media. As if a parent could hold a child back with an instinctive arm shield during a crash in a car going 100mph on a freeway? Parents advising their children “don’t talk to strangers” who have infiltrated their home and are virtually standing in every room? We blame scam and fraud victims for “falling for it” calling them stupid or naive when they have been brainwashed and psychologically manipulated into acting out of character. All while:

• Children die by suicide after being targeted in a sextortion schemes.
• Retirees lose their life savings to scams that started with a Facebook message.
• Millions of dollars are stolen from victims of romance scammers.
• Users of all ages spiral into depression after endless algorithm-fed content about self-harm, perfection, and comparison.

These aren’t simply tech stories. They are public health emergencies.

It’s Time to Treat Social Media Like the Public Safety Issue It Is

We didn’t wait for consumers to design their own seat belts. We didn’t tell parents to build their own airbags. We enacted laws and enforced standards that saved lives. We need to do the same for the digital world before more lives are lost to exploitation, fraud, and preventable harm. Social media isn’t just entertainment, it’s infrastructure. And like all infrastructure, it needs regulation, safeguards, and consequences. 

What can we do?

We need policy-level solutions. Regulatory changes that congress, state legislatures, or federal agencies could implement. We need to amend or better yet REPLACE Section 230 to limit immunity for social media platforms that knowingly allow fraudulent behavior, exploit minors, and especially ignore reports of abuse (my fellow fraud fighters know what I am talking about here)! We need to create a Digital Safety Act that requires protections for minors, scam and fraud detection systems, and transparency in content moderation. We need a dedicated regulatory agency like the FDA or NHTSA to oversee platform practices. We need to require platforms to publicly report the use of AI, and the number and types of scams, frauds and exploitation incidents. We need industry-wide compliance codes for digital platforms and independent audits.  We need to hold social media platforms responsible and liable for literal CRIMES happening on their watch. We need to get lawmakers involved. We need to start writing to legislators or attending town halls. We need to file FTC complaints against platforms that fail to act on fraud or abuse reports. We are so far behind. The time for all this was yesterday.

It’s time to buckle up the internet.

If you’re in digital safety, cybercrime prevention, youth protection, or public policy please share this important information. We can’t afford to keep looking the other way.