https://www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/how-big-tech-turns-kids-trans
“The short version of my detransition story...is that when I was fifteen, I was introduced to gender ideology on Tumblr and began to call myself nonbinary.” So writes 23-year-old American Helena Kirschner in her heart-wrenching autobiographical piece,
“By Any Other Name.” In her testimony, Helena traces her pursuit of gender transition back to her adolescent obsession with Tumblr’s pastel-colored icons of waifish androgyny. The time spent on these blogs began to distort her self-perception. Eventually they led her to virtual haunts where her “friends” blamed her teenage angst on being born in the wrong body.
Helena’s story is not an anomaly. Other detransitioners, such as
Keira Bell and
Grace Lidinsky-Smith, were also exposed to gender ideology online. Today,
research shows that the majority of those who transition were persuaded to do so online through social media, blogs, and YouTube.
The spike in teens using social media and identifying as transgender is no mere coincidence.
Today’s teens have only ever known a digital world. New media—smartphones, social media, and the internet suffuse their waking hours. The ubiquity of such technology means that teens spend more of their lives behind screens than hanging out with friends, going out, or getting their driver’s licenses. On average, teens spend almost nine hours plugged in every single day.
Behind those screens, sexual and transgender content saturates the digital spaces where most teens hang out. A simple hashtag search will instantly load thousands of LGBTQ posts on the social media platform of choice. For example, on
WattPad, a new social media platform, one search turns up over 4.5 million original story uploads. Or consider TikTok. A search for “top surgery” loads countless clips of young women flaunting mutilated chests with millions of views.”