US Surgeon General Proposes Social Media Warning Labels To Protect Young People

On Monday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy proposed that social media apps should display warning labels, underscoring the detrimental impact they can have on young people, particularly adolescents.

Murthy said in an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday, “The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor.”

During his statement, Murthy referred to many studies, such as a 2019 research published in JAMA by the American Medical Association, which indicated that teenagers who spend three hours daily on social media doubled their likelihood of experiencing anxiety and depression symptoms. According to a Gallup poll, teenagers typically spend close to five hours each day on social media platforms.

For years, youth advocates and lawmakers have criticized social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat for their perceived harmful impact on children. Concerns include usage leading to shorter attention spans, perpetuating negative body image ideals, and exposing youngsters to online bullying and predatory behavior.

Murthy wrote on Monday, “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.”

However, Murthy cannot solely impose warning labels on apps. Such a mandate would need to stem from Congress, prompting Murthy to urge lawmakers to enact legislation to address this issue.

He told CNN, “I put forward this call for a warning because I think it’s essential that parents know what we now know, which is that there are significant harms associated with social media use.”

For years, Murthy has voiced concerns about the damaging impact of social media on young people’s well-being. However, his recent declaration of an emergency and his urgent plea to Congress mark his most pressing call to address the issue yet.

Murthy emphasized “a profound risk of harm” posed to kids by social media use in his May 2023 advisory, cautioning that there isn’t sufficient evidence to establish its safety for the mental health of children and adolescents.

At that time, he said, “We’re in the middle of a youth mental health crisis, and I’m concerned that social media is contributing to the harm that kids are experiencing,” He added, “For too long, we have placed the entire burden of managing social media on the shoulders of parents and kids, despite the fact that these platforms are designed by some of the most talented engineers and designers in the world to maximize the amount of time that our kids spend on them.”

According to Reuters, New York state lawmakers passed legislation earlier this month to prevent major social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and X from exposing “addictive” algorithm-based content to individuals under 18 years old without parental consent.