December 10, 2021
Unfair and ideologically-driven censorship is not the only problem plaguing social media platforms. These platforms are increasingly being shown to have harmful effects on our children and families, too. In this special online event from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), EPPC Policy Analyst Clare Morell interviews EPPC Fellow Carl R. Trueman; Sean Clifford, CEO of Canopy; and Dr. Jimmy Myers, Founder, Co-Owner, and CEO of The Timothy Center, to discuss the effects of social media on children’s development and mental health, the dangerous growth of pornography on these platforms, and the broader consequences of social media on our families, relationships, and communities. The event examines how to think about human flourishing in relation to social media and possible solutions for regulating these platforms to prevent harms to the common good.
Event Video
Event Audio
Reports from EPPC and Center for Renewing America on Restricting Children’s Access to Pornography
What Congress Can Do to Restrict Children’s Access to Pornography
What States Can Do to Restrict Children’s Access to Pornography
About the Participants
Clare Morell is a Policy Analyst at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where she works on EPPC’s Big Tech Project. Prior to joining EPPC, Ms. Morell worked in both the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice, as well as in the private and non-profit sectors.
Carl R. Trueman is a fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping civic leaders and policy makers better understand the deep roots of our current cultural malaise. He is the author of the best-selling, award-winning 2020 book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution, and Strange New World, due to be published in February 2022.
As the CEO of Canopy and a father of four young children, Sean Clifford aspires to build products that give families the good of the Internet without the bad. Sean founded Canopy in 2019 to help build a world of healthy tech users, starting by protecting children from pornography. He previously served as vice president of Baron Public Affairs, where he advised leading tech ventures, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies at the intersection of culture and policy. Sean earned his BA from Williams College, an MA in the Great Books from St. John’s College, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Jimmy Myers is the founder, co-owner, and CEO of The Timothy Center, located in Austin, Texas—a unique, multi campus practice that offers affordable Christian Counseling. Several years ago, Jimmy founded Sexual Addiction Recovery at The Timothy Center. This aspect of the counseling practice works with addicts, partners, couples, and teens as they work their way through the devastation of sexual addiction. Dr. Myers has spent more than 40 years writing, ministering, and speaking nationwide on the subjects of Christian marriage/parenting, and sex/pornography addiction. He has two published books, including Fearless Parenting: How to Raise Faithful Kids in a Secular Culture, co-authored with George Barna in 2017.