THE COLLEGE FIX INTERVIEWS GLENN ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA UPHEAVAL: Prominent tech law professor endorses Big Tech antitrust measures to save ‘marketplace of ideas.’

What’s more, the addictive tendencies that social media facilitates have tapped into many of the worst traits of humanity, the professor argues.

So what does the end look like? Does it come to physical fisticuffs? Do Americans get off their phones and head into the streets? What does a social media-induced pandemic look like, and can it actually end up with people literally dying?

“Yes,” Reynolds said in a recent phone interview with The College Fix to discuss his new book.

“We already have a fair amount of Twitter-mediated violence, which ranges from stuff like Antifa to the milkshaking fad,” he said. “Of course just as you hype people up and make them more angry, and you dehumanize their opponents, it has the potential to produce more violence.”

“It’s interesting that Twitter censors people on the grounds that ideas that people don’t want to hear may promote violence — while actually operating algorithms that amplify negative emotions and make people more likely to feel violent,” he added.

But the solution is not to regulate content, Reynolds told The Fix.

“Rather what I am saying is we need to change the environment,” he said. “That’s why I propose primarily antitrust breakups of these companies so that you don’t have such a large and volatile walled environment where things can ferment.”

When it’s lost both Peggy Noonan and Nancy Pelosi, big tech is facing an interesting next ten years.