WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. surgeon general wants a statutory warning label for social media platforms like the one on cigarette boxes because of the effects it has on the minds of young people.
Social media is contributing to the mental health crisis among young people, stated Dr. Vivek Murthy in an opinion piece in The New York Times.
“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. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” The Associated Press said, quoting Murthy in the NYT piece. “Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.”
However, Murthy added that a warning label would not make social media safe for young people, but it would be a start.
Nearly 95 percent of youth aged 13 to 17 have said they use a social media platform, and more than a third have stated they use it “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center.
While it would take action by Congress to see warning labels on social media platforms, it is unclear how long such an initiative would take, even with bipartisan unity for child safety online. Incidentally, the last federal law to protect children online was enacted in 1998, six years before Facebook was founded.
But even Congressional approval for warning labels would likely be challenged in the courts by tech companies.
Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech industry policy group Chamber of Progress said, “It is surprising to see the U.S. Surgeon General attacking social media when teens themselves say it provides an important outlet for social connection.”
In 2023, Murthy warned policymakers to address social media ills in the same way they regulate car seats, baby formula, medication, and other products children use. There was insufficient evidence to show that social media was safe for children and teens.
“Social media today is like tobacco decades ago: It is a product whose business model depends on addicting kids. And as with cigarettes, a surgeon general’s warning label is a critical step toward mitigating the threat to children,” AP quoted Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay, an organization that wants to end marketing to children, said in a statement.
Under federal regulations, social media companies have banned children under 13 from signing up for their platforms, but they have quickly gotten around the bans.