Real Time with Bill Maher guests - Friday, February 13, 2026

[AStern]

2. Jonathan Haidt is a grifter

Are Smartphones & Social Media Really Causing a Teen Mental Health Crisis?

Are smartphones and social media actually destroying teen mental health, or is this just another moral panic? I critically examine the growing narrative that phones, apps, and screen time are responsible for rising anxiety, depression, and harm among teenagers.

These claims, popularized by politicians, journalists, interest groups like the Heritage Foundation, and authors like Jonathan Haidt (The Anxious Generation), are being used to justify mass surveillance laws, deplatforming marginalized people, and implementing policies that actually harm kids and reward big tech.

They allow lawmakers to scapegoat users, and institute draconian surveillance laws instead of enacting meaningful regulation. Haidt and others boosting this moral panic have pushed debunked claims about how social media can turn kids LGBTQ. Haidt has pushed false and misogynistic claims that young liberal women suffer from more "anxiety." He is on the board of Bari Weiss' unaccredited reactionary right wing University.