The US Surgeon General has called on Congress to pass a law to require that social media platforms include health warning labels to alert people of the negative effects they can have on adolescents' mental health. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,” Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy wrote for an opinion article that was published in The New York Times.
"A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe. Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.”
In 2023, Vivek's office issued an advisory on social media usage and the possible effects on teenage users. He then called on social media companies to prioritize safety and privacy in their product designs as well as ensure that minimum age requirements are enforced.
"Why is it that we have failed to respond to the harms of social media when they are no less urgent or widespread than those posed by unsafe cars, planes or food?" he wrote. "These harms are not a failure of willpower and parenting; they are the consequence of unleashing powerful technology without adequate safety measures, transparency or accountability."
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"He is absolutely correct about the bad effects of social media, but such a warning will have no effect on reducing usage," one person commented.
"How many CEOs will allow their children on these platforms?" another person wondered. "Many of them safeguard their families from all these things. Social media and big tech are destroying the lives of young people; they're like liquor stores in a community. The rich open liquor stores in poor neighborhoods and get a generation addicted, while wealthy children attend the best schools to become doctors. Meanwhile, those who were addicted meet the doctors at the hospital for treatment, and the cycle continues."
