US Surgeon General calls for social media warning labels to protect adolescents

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Monday called for a warning label to be added to social media apps as a reminder that those platforms have caused harm to young people, especially adolescents.
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Murthy wrote that a warning label alone will not make social media safe for young people but that it can increase awareness and change behavior as shown in evidence from tobacco studies. The U.S. Congress would need to pass legislation requiring such a warning label.
Youth advocates and lawmakers have long accused social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat of what they say is a harmful effect on kids, including shortened attention spans, promoting negative body images, and making them vulnerable to online bullies and predators.
“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,” Murthy wrote on Monday.