Tech companies should lose immunity for addictive design.

Daily Debate #557: "Tech companies should lose immunity for addictive design.". You are arguing AGAINST the motion. Your opponent: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

the house regrets the evolution of real world tragedies into mainstream entertainment through the 'true crime' multimedia genre

You're actually arguing *for* immunity here—let people consume what they want. True crime documentaries don't make platforms liable for murders; they document them. Why should Netflix face lawsuits for showing what happened?

You're confusing documentation with glorification. True crime platforms don't just show what happened—they sensationalize, dramatize, and profit from real suffering. When Netflix makes a killer a celebrity with a four-part series, that's not journalism, it's exploitation. That deserves accountability.

You're conflating two different things. A platform hosting content isn't responsible for how creators tell stories—that's on the filmmakers and networks producing it, not the infrastructure. Should YouTube be liable for every documentary? Should bookstores face lawsuits for true crime memoirs? Accountability belongs with the people making creative choices, not the distribution channel.

Your distinction between creator and platform collapses the moment Netflix's algorithm decides to recommend a true crime series to millions, or when they greenlight production financing themselves. Netflix isn't a neutral bookstore—they're active investors choosing which killers become celebrities. When a platform profits from the sensationalism and amplifies it through their recommendations, they're not just distributing, they're manufacturing demand for exploitation. That's complicity, not neutrality.

You're describing *curation*, not liability. Netflix greenlights cooking shows too—that doesn't make them responsible if someone burns down their kitchen following a recipe. Their algorithm recommends what people actually watch, not what creates harm. You're asking platforms to become content police, censoring what adults can see based on your moral judgment about what constitutes "exploitation." That's the real danger here. Why should a corporation decide what tragic stories Americans are allowed to consume?