[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! president biden: i thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, whatsoever, about the u.s. and ukraine in the war against russia. amy: as president biden makes a surprise visit to ukraine on

this week's one-year anniversary ruia's invasion, and we look at calls for a diplomatic end to the war with medea benjamin and matt dunn. then the munich security conference this weekend, hosted by vice president kamala harris, accusing russia of committing crimes against humanity. vice president harris: i say to all of those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors who are complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account. amy: we will get response from reed brody, war crimes prosecutor, author of "to get a dictator." and the centers for disease

control warns teen girls face record levels of depression and hopelessness. we look at the roles of social media. >> as my screen time increased, my mental and physical health suffered. the constant quantification of my words through likes and followers heightened my anxiety and deep in my depression. as a young woman, the constant exposure to unalistic body standards and harmful recommended content led me toward disordered eating and severely damaged my sense of self. amy: we look at calls to hold big companies accountable for harmful marketing and platform design choices. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden landed in ukraine you're there today where he met with below tamia

zielinski and announced a new wave of sanctions against russia and another half-billion dollars in u.s. assistance, including more military equipment. president biden: unwavering support for a nation, independence, sovereignty, terry toler terry -- territorial integrity. amy: air raid sirens blared as biden visited ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky in kyiv. the surprise visit comes just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of russia's invasion on february 24. biden's increased weapons commitment comes after the head of the european commission said the bloc would take "extraordinary measures" to ramp up the production, purchase, and supply of weapons to ukraine as . ursula von der leyen made the pledge during this weekend's munich security conference. meanwhile, outside the conference, hundreds of people gathered to protest. >> because it is simply

important. we cannot permanently supply weapons because then the war does not stop. every day that weapons are supplied, people die on both sides. these people count. it's important to go into peace negotiations. amy: also at the munich security conference, vice president kamala harris accused russia of crimes against humanity in ukraine. both harris and secretary of state antony blinken warned china against providing support to moscow as reports emerged beijing is supplying russian forces with non-lethal military assistance. beijing responded to the u.s. threats earlier today. >> it is the u.s., not china, providing a steady stream of weapons to the battlefield. the u.s. is in no position to make demand from china. we will not accept the u.s. pointing fingers. amy: japan has requested an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council after north korea fired long-range ballistic

missiles into the sea off of japan's coast on saturday. north korea fired two more missiles earlier today. north korea said the launches are a warning to the u.s. and south korea, as they prepare for joint military drills. top diplomats of japan, south korea, and the u.s. held emergency meetings on the sidelines of the munich security conference and threatened further isolation for pyongyang. >> north korea will face more severe sanctions by the international community. pyongyang will gain nothing from these provocations. amy: turkey says it is wrapping up rescue operations in all but two provinces, two weeks after a pair of massive earthquakes and its aftershocks devastated turkey and neighboring syria. the death toll now tops 46,000 and is expected to keep rising as more bodies are discovered. this weekend, ghanaian soccer star christian atsu was confirmed as one of the victims.

31-year-old atsu played for a turkish club and previously for teams in saudi arabia and britain. christian atsu's body was repatriated to ghana as tributes poured in, with his former soccer clubs in the u.k. holding a minute's applause before their weekend games. meanwhile, a union representing architects and engineers in turkey has condemned the government and local authorities for ignoring their warnings about issues with building constructions and their pleas for stronger regulations. in israel, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, blocking roads and massing in front of the knesset in jerusalem as the far-right government of benjamin netanyahu pushes ahead on highly contested legislation that would greatly disempower israel's judiciary. on saturday, an estimated quarter-million people took to the streets of tel aviv and other cities to protest the plan for the seventh consecutive week. in syria, at least 15 people were killed, and a number of

homes were destroyed early sunday as israel launched air strikes on the capital damascus. the bombings leveled a 10-story building and left behind a massive crater in a district that's home to senior syrian government officials. it's believed to be israel's deadliest attack on syria since the start of the civil war nearly 12 years ago. elsewhere, the u.s. military's central command centcom says it killed isis leader hamza al-homsi during an assault in northeastern syria on thursday. four u.s. soldiers were reportedly injured in the helicopter raid. the assault came as syria's government said 53 people were shot and killed by isis fighters after an ambush in homs province last week. in bulgaria, 18 afghan refugees were found dead friday inside an abandoned truck near the capital. six bulgarians have been indicted including the alleged leader of a smuggling group. 34 others were rescued,

including five children, and remain hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning from inhaling exhaust pipe gases. the refugees were headed to western europe. paul gary bristow harsh immigration policies are forcing people to rely on more dangerous methods and refugees have accused bulgarian security forces of abuse and using violence to push them out. tunisian president kais saied ordered europe's top trade union official to leave the country after she took part in a protest organized by a powerful labor union saturday. this is the secretary general of tunisia's general labor union, othman jalouli, speaking at that protest. >> there is an inability of the government and authorities to put the country on the right track, on the economic, political, and social level. today there is a campaign aimed at undermining the union with the intention of passing unpopular policies. amy: the u.n.'s human rights chief last week warned against the mounting crackdown on opposition in tunisia, following a wave of arrests of critics and

political opponents of president kais saied, including officials from the main opposition party ennahda, former ministers, judges, lawyers, and the head of a radio station. in july 2021, saied dismissed the government and moved to rule by decree and rewrite the constitution. in southeastern brazil, at least three dozen people were killed over the weekend, as heavy rains triggered landslides and flash flooding in coastal sao paulo state. some areas received more than two feet of rain in just 24 hours, in what meteorologists called an unprecedented extreme weather event. in new zealand, at least 11 people are dead and thousands remain unaccounted for, one week after cyclone gabrielle left a trail of devastation along new zealand's north island. prime minister chris hipkins blamed climate change for the scale of the damage, calling it new zealand's worst natural disaster of the century. meanwhile, madagascar is bracing for cyclone freddy, one month after a devastating tropical storm killed 30 people. cyclone freddy is an extremely rare and long-lived cyclone,

just the trd ever recorded crossing the indian ocean. here in the united states, at least 77 people held at two immigration and customs enforcement detention centers in california have launched a hunger strike, demanding the facilities shut down and release all prisoners. the hunger strike is an extension of an ongoing labor protests led by people at the mesa verde golden state ice prisons, who are paid just $1 a day for their work, including janitorial services where they've been exposed to black mold. officials at the detention centers, which are operated by the private prison contractor geo group, have retaliated against the strikers by putting them in solitary confinement. meanwhile, a new report by the group innovation law lab describes immigrants and asylum seekers held at the torrance county detention facility in new mexico are being subjected to torture methods including solitary confinement sleep

, deprivation, medical neglect, and severe due process violations that lead to wrongful deportations. in related news, the immigrant justice group have sued core civic for the death of a man in mississippi in december 2020. the suit says staff failed to send him to the hospital and waited at least nine minutes before administering cpr. in memphis, five former police officers paded not guilty friday to murdering tyre nichols. their brutal beating of the 29-year-olblack father, caught on tape, led to his death three days later. tyre nichols's mother, rowvaughn wells, spoke after the arraignment. >> i know my son is gone. i know i will never see him again. but we have to start this process of justice right now.

i want everyone of those police officers to look me in the face and say they have not done that yet. amy: in northern mississippi, a man armed with a shotgun and two handguns went on a killing spree friday, fatally shooting his ex-wife, stepfather, stepsister, and three other people, before police finally arrested him. the massacre came in a small town south of memphis, tennessee, where on sunday one person was killed and ten others were wounded by gunfire at a nightclub and a nearby residence. meanwhile, police in columbus, georgia responded to calls of a shooting at a gas station on friday, where they found nine children injured with gunshot wounds. and in linden, new jersey, four family members are dead in an apparent murdesuicide. investigators believe the father fired on his wife and two teenage children on sunday before turning the gun on himself. according to the gun violence archive, there have been 80 mass shootings in the united states since january 1st. fox news hosts and top

executives, including fox corporation head rupert murdoch, thought former president trump's 2020 election fraud claims were completely unfounded, yet continued to push his conspiracy theories on air. the revelations come in a series of emails, text messages, and testimony detailed in a court filing as part of dominion voting systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against fox news. fox news repeatedly reported dominion changed votes to hand biden the win. star hosts tucker carlson, sean hannity, and laura ingraham are all named in the filing. among the charges, the filing says tucker carlson wrote fellow prime-time host laura ingraham, saying "sidney powell is lying by the way. i caught her. it's insane.” carlson and hannity also allegedly wanted to get fox reporters who fact-checked trump's election claims fired. fox news hosts and executives are cited as calling trump's

election fraud lies, "mind-blowingly nuts," "totally off the rails," and "completely bs." and jimmy carter has entered hospice care at his home in plains, georgia, turning down any more medical treatment after a recent series of hospitalizations. he was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. the 98-year-old nobel peace prize laureate is the longest living president in u.s. history and known for his active post-presidency, including his work with habitat for humanity, the carter center. he most recently joined efforts to protect thezembek national wildlife refuge in alaska. to see our interviews with president carter, go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as the war in ukraine approach the one-year mark this week, president biden made a surprise

visit to ukraine today. during a meeting with ukrainian president lome zielinski in kyiv, biden announced a new wave of sanctions against russia and another half billion dollars in assistance including more military equipment. president biden: i thought it was critical that there not be any gap whatsoever about u.s. support to ukraine ithe war against the brutal attack from russia. amy: biden's increased weapons commitment comes ahead of the european commission saying the block would take extraordinary measures to ramp up the production, purchase, and supply of weapons to ukraine. they made the pledge starting this week's munich security conference while intense battles continued in eastern ukraine. outside the conference, hundreds of people gathered to protest. >> because it is simply

important that we cannot permanently supply weapons. then the lord does not stop. every day weapons are supplied, people die on both sides. these people count. it's important to go into peace negotiations. amy: before president biden left for ukraine, he was met with protests in washington, d.c., by an activist withhe antiw group depink. we ed to endhis war in ukraine. wato pusfor better sancons. i hate to botherou but pple are dying. amy: sunday, in washington, d.c., there was also a protest at the lincoln memorial where former green party presidential candidate jill stein spoke. for more, we are joint and

washington, d.c. by two guests. medea benjamin is the co-author of “war in ukraine: making sense of a senseless conflict." also with us is matt duss, visiting scholar at the carnegie endowment for international peace. he is the former foreign policy adviser to senator bernie sanders. he is co-author of the peace in the new republic "a better biden doctrine." welcome back to both of you. matt, your response to the surprise visit before the announced visit to poland that president biden made today, meeting with load mayors lenski -- hello tamia zelenskyy in the capitol kiev? >> thank you. i think the visit is clearly intended to show continuing support and solidarity with the people of ukraine as we approach the one-year anniversary of the russian invasion, the russian further invasion on february 24.

for an american president to make a trip like this is an honestly symbolic, on all days, president's day, to be making an appearance with ukraine's president. days after we saw a number of senior administration officials making speeches and holding consultations at the munich security conference, working with allies and partners to show continuing support, the president's visit really underlines that in an important way. amy: the announcement of half $1 billion more where that weapons to ukraine mainly? >> the release of further funds that have already been allocated is important. the president also did not commit to sending the advanced forms of long-range weapons that ukrainians have continued to request. i think it shows the way the

president has approached this problem with a really important measure of restraint. the last point i would make the last week, we saw a report in the washington post about various administration officials in conversations with their ukrainian counterparts, making clear that there should be an opportunity sometime in the next few months hopefully for the possibility to find an opportunity to get to negotiations. they are very mindful that the united states and its partners cannot continue to supply ukraine at the current rate. i think that article we saw last week signaled an effort to prepare the environment for eventu negotiations. amy: this is president biden speakingn kiev bore he left. president biden: together, we have committed nearly 700 tanks and thousands of armored vehicles.

1000 artillery systems. more than 2 million rounds of artillery ammunition. more than 58 advanced rocket launch systems. anti-ship and air defense systems. all to defend ukraine. and that does not count the other half $1 billion we are announcing with you today and tomorrow. that will be coming your way. that is just the united states on this piece. just today, that announcement includes artillery ammunition for himars, howitzers, anti-javelin, air surveillance radars that will protect the ukrainian people from aerial bombardments. later this week, we will announce additional sanctions against elites and company is trying to backfill russia's war machine. amy: that was president biden

speaking in a surprise trip to give this morning before heading on to warsaw, poland. we're also joined by medea benjamin, cofounder of codepink. your response to president biden strip trip and the statement he just made? >> i feel like this is a propaganda move to shore up support for a senseless war that the american public are starting to realize has no end in sight except for more waste of lives. we saw a new a people that showed only 40% of the american people want to send more weapons to ukraine. we see protests happening in the u.s., like them one that happened yesterday, bringing together a broad sector of people. we see the protests happening all over europe. a new coalition called europe for peace that is pushing their governments toward negotiation.

we see just from the united states opposite from biden, saying we are sending more weapons. and zelenskyy, every time the u.s. agrees to send a w weapon like the tanks, as a new request like the fighter jets. what will it be after that? the american public, the public in europe, and the world community is saying we need to find an answer to this. that is why the top diplomat from china is on his way to russia. they are about to announce a peace plan. the entire world is calling for a peace plan. we saw this with president lula from brazil meeting with president biden. he was pushing them to send weapons to ukraine. he said we don't want to join this war, we want to end this war. amy: matt duss, your response to medea benjamin that this is a senseless war? >> i agree, it is a senseless war launched by russian

president vladimir putin. we all agree that we want to end this war, most of all the ukrainians. the question is under what conditions can we end this more in thats durable and provides for continuing security and not simply a pause before we get to another round of even worse fighting. this has been the approach of the biden administration thus far, to get to a point where you have real negotiations that can produce a cease fire,f not peace agreement, cease fire that is enforceable and durable. i certainly grant there are legitimate concerns and questions on the parts of lots of people including within the administration about how long this can go on, continuing to seek opportunities for negotiations that i previously mentioned. amy: ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy says he is ruling out trading territory for peace as part of a negotiated

settlement with puitin. -- putin. he made the comments in an interview with the bbc. your response? >> it makes sense for him to say that. i will also recognize, as a matter of international law, all of ukraine including crimea, is a part of ukraine. if we get to a point where a cease fire is possible and durable, and the absence of those kinds of maximalist goals, that is something that we should look at seriously. i love proposing that we should negotiate on behalf of the ukrainians -- nobody should do that -- but we have an interest in seeking an end to the war. i think the administration is clear about that, even though that they do not want to get ahead, publicly, of declarations from the ukrainian president. amy: medea benjamin, if you can respond to what matt says.

you talked about the antiwar protest yesterday in washington, d.c. you were initially scheduled to speak but then you did not speak. i was looking at a series of tweets between you and ralph nader, saying why didn't you speak? can you explain what is happening within the antiwar movement? first, respond to matt. >> i think the u.s. has a history of try to stop negotiations, especially those that took place in march a month after the war began and the west decided they did not want zelenskyy to make an agreement with russia. i think the constant sending of weapons is saying to zelenskyy, you don't have to negotiate, we are behind you 100%. the u.s., what it ould be doing, is talking to the russians provide income instead of making a symbolic appearance in kiev,

should be meeting with putin to talk about how to end the war. the issue of yesterday's march, rally, march to the white house, it was fascinating. i have never been at an antiwar rally like that. my organization, codepink, didn't want me to speak because they didn't like a number of speakers and their positions on issues. but when have we ever had any antiwar march that brought together ron paul tulsa gabbard, jilltein, dennis kucinich, people from different political perspectives? there is another march coming up on march 18, a different set of groups is putting together. i think we have to be at every antiwar march. i'm also excited that on tuesday we are having a lobby day in congress, inviting people of all political persuasions to meet us in the rayburn buildin and go

to the offices of every member of the armed services committee in congress to say enough weapons, stop sending weapons, start negotiating. stop escalating, start negotiating. this is the message now that more american people want us to take to congress, which has done nothing but supply billions and billions of weapons to keep this war going, when there is no winning on the battlefield. that is an important thing to say to you, matt. there is no winning on the battlefield. if you agree to that, why do we ke fueling this war? amy: matt, your response? >> sure. first, i would reference something that medea said about stopping negotiations. she referenced talks in march and april. i would encourage viewers to look closely into that because that is a very incomplete and frankly an accurate rendition of

what happened in that situation in those negotiations between the ukrainians and russians. with regd to ending the war, as i said, i want this war to end, ukrainians wanthis war to end. acknowledging there can be no victory on the battlefield, even if one does it knowledge that, there is still the argument for supporting the ukrainians to create the best possible situation on the battlefield they can, to come into negotiations from the strongest possible position. i think that has been the biden administration's approach, the approach of our european allies. that does not preclude eventual negotiations when those become possible. i would also note that biden administration has been talking to the russians at various levels, even if we are not seeing phone call between president biden and president putin, reports of contacts between u.s. officials and their counterparts to identify when

negotiations are appropriate and can achieve something. as yet, vladimir putin is the one that is giving no indication he is ready for that. i think that is important to recognize. >> that is just not true, matt. going back to the negotiations in march, it was not only confirmed by turkish officials involved in the negotiations, and ukrainians themselves, but now we have the former prime minister of israel saying the west locked in these negotiations. in terms of the negotiations, i think it's very exciting that now we have the chinese who are on their way to talk to putin and russia and will be announcing a peace plan. and i think the chinese are representing what the entire world wants to see. stop the fighting now. when will it be time for negotiations? the time for negotiations is way past due. i think the pressure to send

fighter jets -- we are just getting deeper and deeper into a third world war, nuclear war. the american people should be horrified that this is the direction that our government is taking us. it is ukrainian lives that are being sacrificed every day while the u.s. is trying to weaken russia. enough is enough. negotiations now. amy: i want to get matt's response on china. vice president harris and secretary of state blinken mourned china about providing support to moscow, as reports emerge that beijing is supplying nonlethal military assistance. beijing responded to the u.s. threats earlier today. >> it is the u.s., not china, that is providing a steady stream of weapons on about a field. the united states is in no position to make demands on china. we will not accept the u.s.

pointing fingers or even coursing us. -- coercing us. >> you cannot dismiss what he just said. certainly, the u.s. has been supplying weapons, and more broadly, part of what china is able to exploit in its own rhetoric is the fact that the united states as a very bad record on these issues going back many decades. it employs a series of double standards on issues of international law when it comes to dealing with friends versus adversaries. i do think these are arguments that have an audience, particularly in the global south. china has its own problems, mostly with its foreign policy and domestic affairs, oppression of the uighurs, just to name one of the various abuses it's been carrying out, but we should not dismiss these arguments. as for china'role in brokering

peace, personally, i'm very skeptical that the chinese government will be willing to play a productive role. they do have influence with vladimir putin, certainly. he has become much more reliant on support of the chinese government over the course of this war. but going back to wha medea mentioned, brazilian president lula, i don't dismiss the possibility that lula could play a productive role in this, as well. this is something the united states should be willing to work with. if the president and his administration have, at least rhetorically, said we need to make space for others to play a role, particularly leaders from the global south in global affairs, i think we should be willing to see if lula can produce something here and not dismiss that out of hand. amy: we gave you the first word, matt. medea benjamin, you get the last word. >> i think it's exciting that

the chinese are coming up with a peace plan because we know that putin would be on board with that. then we have to get the u.s. and the zielinski on board with that, as well. there is this very loud groundswell coming from below and from the global south to say enough. we have to find a way to end this. it is causing greater hunger around the world. it is increasing prices of energy. it is causing more dirty energy to be used. it is time to find a solution. now it is the west against the world saying in this more now. amy: medea benjamin, cofounder of codepink. her book is “war in ukraine: making sense of a senseless conflict." matt duss, visiting scholar at the carnegie endowment for international peace. we will link to your piece at democracynow.org. next, the munich security

conference this weekend. vice president harris accuses -- crimes against humanity. we will get more from reed brody. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "turning the world" by exene cervenka. vice president harris: the united states has formal determined that russia has committed crimes against humanity. and i say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors who are complicit in these crimes, you

will be held to account. amy: secretary of state tony blinken follow up on harris' comments by saying" we reserve crimes of humanity designations against the most egregious crimes." these acts are not random or spontaneous, they are part of the kremlin's wide and systematic attack against ukrainian populations. we go now to geneva, switzerland, where we are joined by longtime human rights attorney reed brody. he is the author of “to catch a dictator: the pursuit and trial of hissene habre." he is former counsel for human rights watch. thanks for joining us. i don't know if people caught the shift right now for exactly what vice president harris, and

i expect tomorrow president biden in poland, will be saying. >> well, vice president harris basically said what we all know to be true, which is that russian forces are committing crimes against humanity in ukraine. secretary blinken -- in fact, they both used the legal definition, which is crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack a civilian population. we all believe the bombing of hospitals, schools, the torture, sexual violence, attacks on civilian infrastructure, the deportation of children, these all amount to crimes against humanity. i'm not sure, to be honest, why the statement was made, what

legal significance it has that the u.s. has determined that crimes against humanity have been committed. she also talked about how the authors of these crimes will be held to aount. of course, as we have discussed before, there is a massive justice mobilization in ukraine surpassing any precedent by orders of magnitude. you have 66,000 war crimes cases open by the ukrainian prosecutor's office, international criminal court has opened its largest field office operation ever. a dozen other states have jumped and to open up cases on their own soil. many others have supplied assistance, financial, technical

assistance to ukrainian prosecutors. there is a huge amount of investigation in real time like we have never seen before. i don't know what this will bring. perhaps president biden will explain. the u.s. has a very ambiguous relationship in general with international justices. it does support under the democratic administrations, including biden administration, supports the work of the international criminal court. we will have to see what this declaration means. it is a very strong statement. it is a welcome statement. crimes against humanity are being committed by russian forces in ukraine. amy: reed, we had you on just two weeks ago to talk about the

issue of war as a crime of aggression, and the problem that poses for the u.s. many will say that is exactly what is going on here, but for the united states to say that is to go againsits previous positions. >> of course, the u.s. position on justice, international justice, is riddled with double standards. the u.s.' principal objection to the international criminal court is not that they are investigating africa or these people, the principal objection is that the icc purports to investigate crimes committed by citizens of nonstate parties. so, the u.s.' big objection is that the icc could investigate alleged u.s. war crimes in ukraine.

excuse me, afghanistan. u.s. is not a party but the afghanistan is. icc similarly is investigating more crimes and crimes against humanity by russian forces, even though russia, like the u.s., is not a party to the icc, but is allegedly committing more crimes and crimes against humanity on the territory of the state where ukraine is a party. the same double standard would come in in terms of aggression prosecutions. vice president harris did not talk about the crime of aggression. one interpretation of why she made such a strong statement crimes against humanity this weekend is perhaps so that she did not have to talk about crimes of aggression, so the

u.s. could tiptoe around this. amy: we are coming up on the 20th anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq, march 2003. >> exactly. the only reason the icc, which is investigating russia, nonparty states, investigating their alleged war crimes in ukraine, many would say the only reason the icc has not already indicted vladimir putin for the crime of aggression, which is a supreme international crime at nuremberg, is that the united states, britain, france insisted against a majority of other states that the icc should not be able to exercise its aggression jurisdiction against nonstate parties, but also like

russia. it is a very welcome statement, i believe, by vice president harris. these are massive crimes. we all continue to be shocked and horrified by these crimes, t thunited states has to come to grips with the fact th, wheer it isrimes like the bush administration, crimes against detainees in guantanamo, and belgrade, secret prisons, or the illegal invasion of iraq by the u.s. in 2003, 2002, you cannot have it both ways. the tools of international justice should not only be aimed at enemies and outcasts. amy: reed brody, thanks for being with us.

former counsel of human rights watch. the author of “to catch a dictator: the pursuit and trial of hissene habre." next, the cdc warns teenage girls face record levels of hopelessness and depression. we look at the role of social media. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the centers for disease control is warning teenage girls across the u.s. are engulfed in a "

growing wave of violence and trauma." data shows there has been an increase in rapes and assaults as well as record levels of depression and hopelessness. the data is from a cdc survey conducted on 17,000 high school teenagers, were nearly a third of teenage girls said they considered suicide, up nearly 60% from a decade ago. at least 13% of them said they had attempted suicide in the past year, while almost 15% of the girls surveyed said they'd been sexually assaulted. we look at calls from congress to do more to protect children, especially girls online. we are joined by three guest who testified last week before the senate judiciary committee. josh golin, the executive director of fairplay, which protects children from the harmful manipulations of big tech. dr. mitch prinstein is the chief science officer at the american psychological association. he is also a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university of north carolina at chapel hill.

and emma lembke joins us. she is the founder of the log off movement, which is to get -- a movement to get kids offline. she testified before the senate last week. she's now a sophomore studying political science at washington university in st. louis. i want to go to part of what you told senators last week in congress. >> as my screen time increased, my mental and physical health sutter. the constant quantification of my worth through likes, comments, and followers heightened my anxiety and deepened my depression. as a young woman, the constant exposure to unrealistic body standards and harmful recommended content led me toward a disordered eating and severely damaged my sense of self. amy: emma lembke , a sophomore in college addressing the senate judiciary committee. thank you so much for joining us today.

talk about exactly what happened to you? the amount of time you spent online and how it affected you psychologically? >> absolutely, and thank you for having me on today. i got my first social media account in the sixth grade around the age of 12. as i began to spend more time on these platforms, my mental and physical health suffered. the constant quantification of my work through likes and followers heightened my anxiety and let me toward a worse mental state. the constant exposure to harmful recommended content that was feeding me pro anorexic content led me to disordered eating, all of these negative consequences that i still grapple with today. amy: talk about this issue of disordered eating and how it came from what you were imbibing online. talk about how it works,

when you were looking at, the silos that brought you down. >> i always use youtube as an example. as a young girl, 12 years old, i would go onto youtube to look up a good workout or healthy recipe. that one search indicated to the algorithm that it should feed me pro anorexic content. within seconds of that video, addictive algorithmic techniques, such as autoplay, which keeps videos playing, let me toward dangerous rabbit holes, feeding me pro anorexic content, when all i wanted was healthy recipes. amy: how did you deal with this? you are talking about doing this in sixth grade. how many years did it take you to say, we ought tget off of this? >> it took me about four years. i got instagram at the age of 12 in the sixth grade. it took entering high school,

getting to the ninth grade, to reach a breaking point. the negative consequences that really appeared through my use of social media, i'm still grappling with today. i am still repairing my sense of self, body image. those things are incredibly detrimental, specifically when you're dealing with them in your most formative years. that was one of the reasons i launched log off movement, to protect all of those 12-year-old girls and young women who are yet to interact with these places and yet to enter these dangerous rabbit holes. amy: you are obviously not completely off social media. here we are talking through skype. >> i am not, and that is one integral piece of information that my generation understands. social media and online world is multifaceted. we can connect with one another, express ourselves, explore these

online spaces, but what is important is that they are regulated and safe for young users. addictive designs like autoplay, should not send a 12-year-old girl into an anorexic rabb hole. i still face levels of friction between me and these technologies. one thing that i don't think should be on the user, a burden on the parent, but on the companies not to addict the users. amy: dr. mitch prinstein, chief science officer at the american psychological association, professor at north carolina chapel hill. what do you recommend, what did you tell the senators last week? >> first of all, we have to be really careful about the age that kids are first getting on. remember the brain is going through one of the most important periods of development right around 11, 12.

the brain is not fully developed until 25. we have a biological vulnerability period. for kids that want interaction with peers,eposts, those are things that are triggering a part of the brain that becomes recharged at that transition period. you also have to be really careful about kids addiction or tendency online -- 50% of teenagers are having such a hard time getting off-line. they are spending time to make sure they have perpetual access. it is interfering with her dearly rules and routines. amy: suicide is such a painful increase among girls. it is absolutely astounding these figures. nearly one third of teen girls said they seriously considered suicide, up 60% from a decade

ago. 13% of them said they attempted suicide in the past year. >> yes, we have seen incredibly high rates, and increasing rates, even before the pandemic. this is a decade-long problem with youth mental health. what we are seeing now, perhaps link to social media, is a tremendous amount of discrimination and cyber bullying happening, sometimes with kids even telling one another that they should intend to end their lives as a form of bullying. just like the anorexic content that emma was discussing, the is a remarkable bout of content that encourages kids to cut themselves or think about suicide, even sanctioning them when they think about not cutting themselves anymore. teaching them not only how to do it but to conceal the information from their parents. amy: emma, where you concealing

information from your parents? >> i don't think i was necessarily concealing the information. i felt holess and didn't know what to do. issumed my parents wouldn't know whato do either because they are not digital natives. that is one unique position my generation anden z is put into as we get older. we have these understandings of these acute harms that are present on these spaces, and it is on us to tell these stories, to protect the next generation. amy: let's bring in josh golin, the executive director of fair play, joining us from newton, massachusetts. josh also testified before the senate. you are particularly holding big media accountable. do you believe in self-regulation? i don't mean kids like emma, but can you trust the company to regulate?

what are you demanding the u.s. government do? >> we absolutely cannot trust these platforms to self regulate. congress has not passed a law to protect children online since 1998. that law only protects children up to their 13th birthday, so teenagers have no protections right now. the situation that dr. prinstein and emma were describing has occurred, an unregulated environment. when the platforms are caught doing things against young people, they deny it, then they drag their feet and then they make superficial changes. it shouldn't be up to them to decide how these environments, where kids are spending eight hours a day, are designed. we need new safeguards and policies. some of the things my organization is calling for, legislation which congress considered last year, some of these legislations would extend privacy protections to teenagers

. end surveillance advertising to kids. end targeted marketing to kids. all of this is trying to hook kids to sell them to advertisers. last but not least, we need a duty of care. we need platform to have a legal obligation to consider how their platforms are designed, how their algorithms are designed, and to prevent and mitigate the most serious harm to people. right now, their only responsibility is to their shareholders. as long as their only responsibility is to their shareholders, they will keep trying to addict kids anyway they can, even if it means presenting them pro anorexic, pro harm content. amy: i want to go to philadelphia, 2018, facook's founng presint sean pker ying thathe site was

delirate lve designeto hook use. >>t was alabout conming as much oour time andonscious atntion asossible. that means wneed to ve you a ttle dopine t every on in a whi becauomeone liked or commeed on a oto,ost, whatev. th will geyou to contribe mo content that will get you moreikes and comments it is social vidation ew lo. its actly thkind o thi that hacker ke mysf would come up th. you are exploiting abler ality in hum psychogy. ititerly chang your relatiship with societywith ea other. probly inteeres with the pructivityn weird wa. god only knows what it is doing to our children's brains. amy: that was sean parker,

founding president of facebook. dr. mitch prinstein, how do you rce this regulation, are the forces that are fighting you in congress? >> i think there are a variety of ways this could be raised from a legal perspective. if you listen to that piece, these are brilliant folksho have created terrific platforms for keeping kids engaged. imagine what you can do with that if it were being used for good? it was being used to teach kindness, or to help kids with their emotional regulation skills, emotiona development? at the least we should use this amazing profit that social media companies have amassed to teach kids how to use their platforms and beneficial ways, to give themsychological good, and even to create experiences that we know can train kids and

prevent them from mental health difficulties. amy: emma, you founded the log off movement, but you are not completely logging off. what do you say to young people, how can you do in a healthy way? >> what i say to young people is unique to mentally log off and reflect on your own usage, asking deeper questions. why am i on these platforms, who do i follow? in answering these questions, young people can begin to curate their experiences online for themselves, to prioritize their safety and well-being, over companies prioritizing our attention. it's all about placing levels of function between us and these technologies. amy: emma lembke, thank you for being with us, the founder of log off movement. josh golin, executive director of fair play. dr. mitch prinstein is the chief

science officer at the american psychological association. he is also a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university of north carolina at chapel hill. if you know one someone considering suicide, call 988. gggggà!

♪ from our tokyo stud questions, this is nhk "newsline." people in southern turkey have been hit by another earthquake. this one occurred on monday around 8:00 p.m. local time and left three dead. the initial quake had an estimated magnitude of 6.4. a few