US Surgeon General Calls For Warning Labels On Social Media Due To Mental Health Risks
In a recent development, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has called for the introduction of warning labels on social media platforms. He cites significant mental health risks for adolescents as the primary reason behind this proposal.
What Happened: Dr. Murthy, in an op-ed published in the New York Times on Sunday, underscored the urgent need for warning labels on social media platforms. He argued that the mental health crisis among young people has reached emergency levels, with social media being a significant contributor.
Dr. Murthy revealed that adolescents who spend more than three hours daily on social media are twice as likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression. He also highlighted that nearly half of adolescents feel worse about their bodies due to social media.
The Surgeon General, who has served as the surgeon general of the United States under Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, suggested a warning label stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.
“A surgeon general's warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” he suggested.
Dr. Murthy also proposed that companies should be mandated to share all data on health effects with independent scientists and the public. He emphasized the need for independent safety audits and stressed that Americans need more than just assurances from these platforms; they need concrete evidence.
He further emphasized the role of schools, parents, and public health leaders in creating healthy digital environments for young people. He encouraged parents to establish phone-free zones and delay access to social media until after middle school.
“There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids,” Dr. Murthy added.
“There are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world.”
Why It Matters: This call for action comes in the wake of a series of events that have highlighted the potential dangers of social media for young users. In January, tech CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Linda Yaccarino of X, testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child safety in social media. This was followed by Zuckerberg’s public apology to the families of children who were victims of abuse on social media platforms.
In March, Florida implemented new measures to protect children and teenagers from social media, including a ban on the use of these platforms for children 13 or under.
Image by Kaspars Grinvalds via Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
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