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User Mag

The New Satanic Panic Is Here

+ Admin nights, Steal A Brainrot, GAP's AI orb, IG for fishing, influencer peptides, a16z's pro-AI creator class, and one man's journey from foreign correspondent to Uber driver in Trump’s America

Taylor Lorenz
Jan 23, 2026
∙ Paid

Are smartphones and social media actually destroying teen mental health, or is this just another moral panic? In my latest episode of my Free Speech Friday YouTube series, I critically examine the pervasive false narrative that phones, apps, and screen time are responsible for rising anxiety, depression, and harm among teenagers.

These claims, populari…

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