A top US health official wrote an opinion article calling for a warning label to be put on social media platforms. A top US health official called on lawmakers to require warning labels on social media platforms such as what is currently required on cigarette packages. US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people in an opinion article published 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,” Murthy said. "A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe," he added. “Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behaviour".
Murthy previously warned that there wasn't enough evidence to show that social media is safe for children and teens. Its use is however prevalent among young people. He said at the time that policymakers needed to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula, medication and other products children use.
Social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up for their platforms but children can often easily get around the limit. Murthy said in the opinion article that the harms of social media were th.