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VietnameseGriffin: ‘Attendees walked away from the first day with a clearer understanding of the threats posed by social media as well as actionable information to help guide their use of various platforms’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement at the end of day one of his Social Media Summit:
“More than 1,200 people registered for our Social Media Summit, and day one was a resounding success. We kicked off the day with a fireside chat between Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and me. Governor Sanders has been a tremendous leader nationally on addressing the harmful impacts of social media and smartphones on our youth. Her perspective on this important issue set the perfect tone for the rest of our summit, and I am grateful for her strong leadership.
“We also heard from Dr. Tiffany Howell and Dr. Jason Williams of Arkansas Children’s Hospital about the psychological effects of social media’s addictive algorithms on young people; from Kevin Hyland, a global leader in combating human trafficking, about how traffickers use social media platforms to lure and groom victims; from Matthew Turpin at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution about how the Chinese government uses social media to collect data on Americans; from Chief Deputy Attorney General Ryan Owsley about the litigation my office has pursued against social media companies; and from a panel of federal law enforcement professionals about how social media is used in the commission of internet crimes against children.
“Attendees walked away from the first day with a clearer understanding of the threats posed by social media as well as actionable information to help guide their use of various platforms. I look forward to another great lineup of presenters tomorrow.”
During her discussion with Attorney General Griffin, Governor Sanders closed with the following charge to attendees about how they can help ensure that policy, legislation, and personal conduct create a healthier environment on social media:
“It will take a collective change and a collective voice to have a true cultural shift. That’s going to take people of every walk of life, every demographic, left, right, Democrat, Republican. Everyone is impacted by this issue, and I think it’s going to take everyone leaning in and collectively working on it to solve it.”
To download a PDF version of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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