June 17, 2024
Social media should be slapped with a Surgeon General warning label like tobacco and alcohol.
US Surgeon General himself says this needs to happen to protect young people in this country.
Dr. Vivek Murthy – who is a parent himself — says parents need to understand the mental health crisis of young people in this country is an emergency and he says social media is an “important contributor.”
He cites American medical association peer-reviewed data that found young people who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms. And the problem is — latest polling numbers from 2023 found this age group of 13- to 17-year-olds spend almost 5 hours (4.8 hrs) a day on social media.
Now – before I tell you more about Dr. Murthy’s proposal and why he’s suggesting this – you have to understand slapping a warning label on anything is not something he can do alone. He would need congress to pass a new law to require that surgeon general’s warning label to be added to social media apps.
In his statement, the dr. Murthy says just by adding the label does not make the apps safe, but he suggests the label would remind parents that this technology has not been proven safe – especially not for this young age group.
So what kind of law is he asking congress to pass? It’s not just the label. He wants new legislation that would block online content from young people that would expose them to harassment, abuse, exploitation and exposure to extreme violence or sexual content. He says the law should also prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from young people. He says the law should also force social media companies to share their data on health effects with the public so independent scientists and the government can conduct safety audits. And he says the law should restrict the use of things like push notifications, autoplay and the ability for young people to infinitely scroll.
The Surgeon General says keeping kids safe from social media shouldn’t just fall on the social media companies – he says schools should ensure classrooms and social time are “phone free” and parents should create phone-free zones around bedtime, meals and social gatherings so their kids can understand and learn how keep connections with real people in real life.
Now – this isn’t the first time Dr. Murthy has warned about the down side of social media for young people – in fact – I reported on his advisory last year when he said 13 was way too young to be using social media. In that advisory – he said parents should not allow their kids on social media until age 16 at the earliest.
Read the Surgeon General’s OpEd about this warning label here.
Read more about his social media advisory from 2023.
