'Log off, turn off': Toxic social media spiral stirs alarm

The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk set off three days of some of the ugliest and most divisive social media reactions America has seen, leading Utah’s governor on Friday to declare that enough is enough.

- BY KAREN GARCIA, GRACE TOOHEY AND HANNAH FRY

A ROSE is placed at a memorial in Phoenix for Charlie Kirk, the activist who was shot dead this week in Utah. Eric Thayer Getty Images

“Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said at a news conference announcing an arrest in Kirk’s killing. “I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”

His words immediately struck a chord in a nation where many have been stunned by the level of online anger since the killing. Kirk was shot by a sniper at a Utah university, and graphic video of the slaying immediately spread around social media platforms, heightening emotions.

Some forces on the right have used the killing to call on the attack of liberals, some likening it to a civil war. Others celebrated Kirk’s death.

Hours after the slaying, police briefly detained two men. Social media went wild, publicizing their names, backgrounds and photos even after they were cleared of any affiliation to the fatal shooting.

The situation got so bad that Utah officials on Thursday urged people not to threaten them because they did nothing wrong.

“These individuals were not suspects. They were people of interest,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said. “They don’t deserve that harassment.”

Cox said the sheer horror of watching Kirk be killed underscores the larger issues with platforms that repeatedly surface such images.

“We are not wired as human beings — biologically, historically — we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” he said. “We desperately need some healing.”

In Orem, Utah, the college town where Kirk was killed, residents mourning the violence were shocked at the level of vitriol they experience when they opened social media apps.