"Social Media is Hijacking Our Children," the Mayor Says After Pro-Palestinian Riot at Hillcrest High School

By Yehudit Garmaise

"Social media is filled with so much trash, so many lies, so many distortions," Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. "That is where young people get their 'news.'"

The mayor condemned social media after he was asked about a loud, unruly, and violent pro-Palestinian riot that broke out at Hillcrest High School in Queen on November 20 after students spotted a teacher's Facebook post declaring her support of Israel.

For two hours, the Jewish teacher hid in a locked office from an angry teenage mob rampaging through the school's halls until NYPD officers came to escort her to safety.

"Our young people's lives are on social media," said the mayor. "Young people don't pick up the tabloids...They are reading these algorithms that are feeding their pain. If we don't make these social media platforms more responsible, they are hijacking our children."

"You add that to the fact that social media teaches young people to ride on top of trains, how to steal cars, and how to shoot guns," Mayor Adams said. "Social media is destroying our children."

The damaging effects of social media are not limited to children alone - adults on social media can suffer the same consequences. And while social media issues do not plague the frum world in the same fashion, and certainly not the majority of our youth, it is an ever-present danger that we constantly work to guard against. 

When asked about "the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the mayor repeated the clear and strong support for Israel from which he has not wavered since October 7.

"Hamas must be destroyed," he said. "I've said that over and over again. They are a terrorist organization. Their actions are horrific and barbaric. All the hostages should come home."