Surgeon general demands tobacco-style health warning label on social media apps

The US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has demanded a health warning be placed on social media apps to protect children from a 'mental health crisis'. 

Writing in The New York Times, Murthy slammed social media as an 'important contributor' to widespread social and psychological issues.

'Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours,' he said. 

He is calling for a warning label - similar to those placed on cigarettes - to be attached to apps saying parents feel 'helpless and alone in the face of toxic content and hidden harms.'

The label would require Congressional approval but Murthy says the measure has bipartisan support. 

The US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has demanded a health warning be placed on social media apps to protect children from a 'mental health crisis'

A label alone would not 'make social media safe for young people' but it is a good start, he said.   

'When asked if a warning from the surgeon general would prompt them to limit or monitor their children’s social media use, 76 percent of people in one recent survey of Latino parents said yes.' 

The first surgeon general's warning was added in 1965, placing a label on cigarettes warning they were linked to lung cancer and other health issues. 

Since then, labels have been added to products which pose significant health risks to the public.

Murthy says social media now needs a similar warning. 

'There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids,' he said. 

'There are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world.'

A label alone would not 'make social media safe for young people' but it is a good start, Murthy said

Murthy said parents have told him time and time again how concerned they are about the time their children spend online and the impacts it has on their health and mental wellbeing. 

He said: 'As a father of a 6- and a 7-year-old who have already asked about social media, I worry about how my wife and I will know when to let them have accounts. 

'How will we monitor their activity, given the increasingly sophisticated techniques for concealing it?'  

Murthy said we need legislation from Congress to 'shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content that too often appears in algorithm-driven feeds'. 

He added: 'The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.' 

As well as the legislation, parents should band together to agree that they won't let their children use social media until they are 16 or 17, he said, making it easier as no child is 'left out'. 

Murthy said: 'Parents should work together with other families to establish shared rules, so no parents have to struggle alone or feel guilty when their teens say they are the only one who has to endure limits.'