Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling for official warning labels on social media platforms to help address the mental health crisis among young people.
Vivek Murthy cited previous government warnings about cars, airlines, and food safety
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling for official warning labels on social media platforms to help address the mental health crisis among young people.
Similar to warning labels on tobacco products, Murthy wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Monday that such a warning would state that “social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.” He cited polling indicating that 76% of Latino parents would act to limit their children’s social media use based on such a warning.
He also urged Congress to pass legislation to counter the impact of “algorithm-driven feeds” by preventing platforms from collecting children’s sensitive data and restricting features such as push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll.
“Additionally, companies must be required to share all of their data on health effects with independent scientists and the public — currently they do not — and allow independent safety audits,” he wrote. “While the platforms claim they are making their products safer, Americans need more than words. We need proof.”
A surgeon general waring requires legislation from Congress.
In his op-ed, Murthy compared the measures he is suggesting to actions the federal government has taken in the past to require seatbelts and airbags in cars, the Federal Aviation Administration’s grounding of Boeing $BA planes earlier this year, and the recall of dairy products due to listeria contamination.
“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.”
The effects of social media on children have gotten renewed attention in recent weeks with the publication of the best-selling book “The Anxious Generation” by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, which cites evidence of the harm coming from a “phone-based childhood.” Other researchers say evidence is less clear-cut and that they have found only minor associations between social media use and mental health.
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