Fiona Bruce challenged entrepreneur Tom Skinner on BBC Question Time, accusing him of being 'part of the problem' regarding social media addiction. The debate followed a landmark legal case where Meta and Google were found liable for causing addiction in users.
Mr Skinner, who has 536,000 TikTok followers and earns money promoting products on social media, hesitated when Ms Bruce questioned his role. She argued that his success relies on addictive algorithms that push users towards his content.
Justice Minister Jake Richards, also on the panel, smiled at the exchange. Mr Skinner eventually defended his videos as harmless and stressed the importance of parental responsibility in protecting children from excessive screen time.
Other panellists supported Mr Skinner, stating his clips are innocent and do not drive the worst of the algorithms. The legal case involved a 20-year-old woman who claimed her mental health worsened due to social media addiction.
Meta and Google have rejected the verdict and plan to appeal. Meta stated they disagree with the decision, while Google argued that YouTube is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.
