On Sunday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox expressed his concerns regarding the exploitation of the current political polarization in the United States by social media companies to incite divisive emotions among individuals holding opposing views, ultimately profiting from the discord. This manipulation of emotions was cited as a contributing factor to the tragic murder of 31-year-old conservative activist Charlie Kirk by someone with differing viewpoints.
Since Kirk was fatally shot last week at Utah Valley University, Governor Cox has been calling for Americans to ease the conflicts among themselves. During an interview on Sunday with NBC’s political program “Meet the Press,” he condemned social media companies for fueling “mutual hatred” among Americans, highlighting their significant negative impact in Kirk’s murder case.
Cox emphasized the harm inflicted by social media platforms and the internet on society, stating, “I can’t overstate the damage social media and the internet have done to all of us. These companies – with market valuations reaching tens of billions of dollars and considered the most powerful in world history – have found ways to invade our minds.”
Although he did not specifically mention a particular platform, authorities have revealed that the alleged murderer of Kirk, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had radical leftist beliefs. Despite being born into a conservative family, Robinson’s ideology shifted towards the left, apparently influenced by certain rhetoric.
According to Cox, “Based on accounts from his family and individuals we interviewed, he did indeed come from a conservative family, but his ideology was vastly different from that of his family.”
Cox added that Robinson became radicalized after dropping out of Utah State University, attributing a significant factor in this transformation to the influence of electronic games and the culture of the “dark internet.”
“I believe that in every assassination and assassination attempt we’ve seen in the past five or six years, social media has played a direct role,” Cox told the NBC host.
He further mentioned that Robinson has refused to cooperate with the authorities’ investigation, but they have gathered crucial information from his family, friends, and acquaintances.
Cox also stated that more concrete evidence would be made public when Robinson is formally charged on Tuesday, and called for the death penalty for the perpetrator behind Kirk’s murder.