In a recent opinion piece for The New York Times, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called on Congress to mandate warning labels on social media platforms, akin to those required on cigarette packages.
Murthy emphasized that social media significantly contributes to the mental health crisis among young people, advocating for a Surgeon General’s warning label to regularly remind parents and adolescents of the potential harms.
Dr. Murthy noted that while a warning label alone would not make social media safe for young people, it would be a crucial step in raising awareness and changing behaviour. He pointed to evidence from tobacco studies showing that warning labels can be effective in increasing awareness and influencing behaviour.
Last year, Dr. Murthy highlighted the lack of evidence proving social media’s safety for children and teens, urging policymakers to regulate social media as they do other products used by children, such as car seats and baby formula.
To comply with federal regulations, social media platforms currently ban children under 13 from signing up. However, these bans are easily circumvented, often with or without parental consent. Additionally, measures like TikTok’s default 60-minute time limit for users under 18 can be easily bypassed.
Dr. Murthy called for Congress to implement legislation that would protect young people from online harassment, abuse, exploitation, and exposure to extreme violence and sexual content. He suggested measures to prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and restricting features that contribute to excessive use, such as push notifications, autoplay, and infinite scroll.
Furthermore, Dr. Murthy recommended that social media companies be required to share all their health effect data with independent scientists and the public and to allow independent safety audits. He also urged schools and parents to provide phone-free times and for healthcare professionals to guide families toward safer practices.
Source:
https://abcnews.go.com/ Image:
https://www.news10.com/
