Daniil Davydoff

In the recent words of London police commissioner Cressida Dick, social media serves to “rev people up,” so the global push to crack down on extremist and violent internet content is unsurprising. In March, the European Commission demanded that tech firms remove terrorist posts within one hour of their appearance. Similar calls have come from corporations and commentators, alike. These forms of pressure are important but focused only on the problem of social media serving as a tool for spreading violent ideas and propaganda. Disturbingly, social media use itself may be predisposing individuals to commit terrorism, shootings and other forms of violence by impacting user behavior and well-being.