Social networks | America’s chief medical officer wants prevention messages

(Washington) The US Surgeon General called on Monday for social networks to display information on the risks faced by young people who spend their time there, like the mandatory prevention messages on cigarette packages.

“It is time” that authorities “require prevention messaging on social media platforms to warn of the significant dangers they pose to adolescent mental health,” wrote Dr. Vivek Murthy, principal health advisor to the the American executive, in an opinion text published by the New York Times.

These platforms are “an important factor” in the mental health crisis affecting young people, he insists.

Spending more than three hours a day on social networks doubles the risk of causing symptoms linked to depression and anxiety in adolescents, recalls Vivek Murthy. In the summer of 2023, writes this manager, young people spent around 5 hours a day on these applications.

He does not name them, but it is TikTok, Instagram (Meta) and other social networks or platforms of this type which are in the viewfinder.

The imposition of such messages must go through law, and therefore a political agreement in Congress, like the one that led to messages on cigarette packages in 1965.

“Research around tobacco consumption shows that these prevention messages promote awareness and change practices,” writes the chief medical officer.

Social networks can have “extremely harmful effects” on the mental health of children and adolescents, he had already warned in a report in May 2023.

Warning labels

Vivek Murthy stipulated that using a simple warning label would not make social media safe for young people, but was part of the necessary measures.

Social media use is widespread among young Americans. Up to 95% of teens ages 13 to 17 report using at least one social media outlet, and more than a third report using social media “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center.

Last year, Mr Murthy warned there was not enough evidence to show social media was safe for children and teenagers. He had argued that policymakers needed to address the harms of social media in the same way they regulate things like car seats, infant food, medications and other products used by children.

To comply with federal regulations, social media already prohibits those under 13 from registering on their platforms – but young people have been shown to easily circumvent these bans, with or without their parents’ consent.

With Associated Press