The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency, and social media has emerged as an important contributor. 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. Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.
Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior. 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.
Murthy believes that social platforms should have clear warning tags, much like the labels added to cigarette packaging. How that would work, in practice, is another thing.
Murthy has also proposed more expanded restrictions and processes to protect teen users, beyond just warning tags, including broader protections from harassment, abuse.
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