Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for Congress to place warning labels on social-media platforms on Monday, similar to the labels for cigarettes and alcohol, in order to protect kids’ mental health.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in a New York Times op-ed, warning that prolonged screen time negatively alters an adolescent’s brain.
To illustrate his point, he cited a 2019 American Medical Association study, which concluded that teens who spend more than three hours per day on social media double their risk of anxiety and depression. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, the average number of hours that teens spend on social media a day amounts to 4.8 hours — well over the three-hour mark. Moreover, a 2022 survey found that almost half of teens say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.
“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. “A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe.”
Neither the House nor the Senate has introduced legislation mandating social-media health warnings.
The surgeon general’s plea to Congress comes a little over a year after he issued a public-health advisory, calling attention to the harms that social media poses to young adolescents. In the May 2023 warning, he recommended that lawmakers, platforms, and parents alike create safe limits for minor access.
Murthy has previously said he believes that age 13 is too young for children to join social media, as it exposes young users to online bullying and sexual content.
“Legislation from Congress should 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,” said Murthy, a father of a six- and seven-year-old. “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.”
“Additionally, companies must be required to share all of their data on health effects with independent scientists and the public — currently they do not — and allow independent safety audits,” he added. “While the platforms claim they are making their products safer, Americans need more than words. We need proof.”
In addition to congressional action, the nation’s leading medical doctor suggested in the op-ed that schools become phone-free environments, as well as bedtime and meals. He also urged parents to restrict access to social media until their children graduate from middle school.
While Congress has yet to act on restricting social-media access for adolescents, states are already taking steps to that end.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, for instance, signed a bill in March prohibiting children under 14 from accessing social media and requiring parental consent for children under 16 to obtain accounts. Earlier this month, New York passed legislation banning addictive social-media algorithms for children. Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign the bill into law. These bills were passed with bipartisan support.