U.S. Surgeon General calls for warning labels on social media

42 minutes ago

by Tom Gerken, Technology reporter

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One of America's top health officials has urged the country to impose smoking warning labels on social media platforms.

write The New York TimesDirector-General of the Department of Public Health Vivek Murthy said social media had put children at a higher risk of experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

He wants people visiting these platforms to see warning messages that they are “associated with serious mental health harms among young people.”

He said such labels would serve as “regular reminders to parents and teens that social media has not been proven safe.”

The BBC has approached YouTube, TikTok, X and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, for comment.

The first warning labels were placed on cigarette packages in the United States in 1966, after then-Surgeon General Luther L. Terry published a report linking tobacco to lung cancer.

Other countries soon followed suit, with the UK making similar messages mandatory on packaging in 1971.

Murthy said evidence showed that adding these labels to cigarette packaging increased awareness of the risks associated with smoking.

And he believes applying similar warnings to social media platforms would encourage parents to monitor their children's online safety.

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In the article, he called for a ban on mobile phones in schools and said parents should prohibit their children from using them during meals and bedtime.

This comes after Mursi issued a public health advisory in 2023 stating there is a link between social media use and poor mental health among teenagers.

But he acknowledges there is no academic consensus about the impact of these platforms and calls for more research to be done.

“In an emergency situation, you can't afford to wait until you have perfect information,” he said.

“We will evaluate the available facts, use our best judgment and act swiftly.

“The youth mental health crisis is an emergency, and social media is emerging as a key contributing factor.”

“Not inherently harmful”

There is an ongoing debate about the impact of social media on young people.

Several Study finds association The relationship between excessive social media use and negative mental health outcomes among young people; and In other studies Teen social media use is linked to children feeling less satisfied with their lives.

but A 2023 study found no evidence Linking the global reach of Facebook to widespread psychological harm, On the other hand, other studies Some kids may benefit from spending time online talking to friends they already know offline.

The American Psychological Association also says that social media is “neither inherently beneficial nor inherently harmful,” but warns against problematic use and calls for the removal of content that promotes harm.

He also said “most” children under the age of 14 should be supervised while using social media.

In the UK, tech companies must do more to keep children safe online. The Online Safety Act is set to come into force in 2025.

The media regulator, Ofcom, laid out new rules for tech companies in May, requiring them to implement strict age verification measures and keep children away from “harmful” content.

But parents whose children have died after being exposed to harmful online content want the rules to be tougher.

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