US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy announced Monday that he will push for a warning label on social media platforms advising parents that using the platforms can harm teenagers’ mental health.
Warning labels — like those found on tobacco and alcohol products — are one of the most powerful tools at the nation’s top health official’s disposal, but Dr. Murthy cannot demand them unilaterally. the action requires congressional approval.
The proposal is based on years of escalating warnings from the surgeon general. In a May 2023 advisory, it recommended that parents immediately set limits on phone use and urged Congress to quickly develop health and safety standards for technology platforms.
He also called on tech companies to make changes: to share internal data about the health impact of their products. to enable independent security controls; and limit features such as push notifications, autoplay and infinite scrolling, which it says “disrupt brain development and contribute to overuse.”
In an interview, Dr. Murthy said he was deeply disappointed by the platforms’ reluctance to do so.
“I don’t think we can rely solely on the hope that the platforms can fix this problem on their own,” he said. “It’s been 20 years.”
He said he was “quite optimistic” that lawmakers would introduce a bill requiring a warning label, which he envisioned appearing regularly on screens when people use social networking sites.
The push for a warning label is setting up a battle between the Biden administration and the tech industry, which has sued several states over social media laws.
Tech companies are likely to argue that the science on the harmful effects of social media is not settled. They will also invoke the Free Speech Act, arguing that the government cannot force companies to carry a product warning, which is sometimes described as “compelled speech.”
“Legally, it’s no different than a Trump administration surgeon general saying there should be a warning label on the mainstream media because he thinks it’s fake news,” said Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of the Chamber of Progress, a lobbying firm. technology. “It is the same abuse of the government’s power to infringe on speech.”
That challenge may find sympathy in U.S. courtrooms, with a group of judges showing less respect for public health regulations than their predecessors, said Claudia E. Haupt, a professor of law and political science at Northeastern University School of Law.
For more than a decade, cigarette companies have successfully used the First Amendment argument to prevent a requirement to print a graphic photo of diseased lungs on tobacco products, he said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the surgeon general’s proposal. Representatives for YouTube and X declined to comment.
The surgeon general’s call for action received support from two senators, Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, the authors of the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require platforms to take a series of measures to protection of minors on social media but does not include warning labels.
“We are pleased that the Surgeon General — America’s top doctor — continues to call attention to the harmful impact social media is having on our children,” said a joint statement from the two senators.
Previous warning labels had significant effects on behavior. In 1965, following a landmark report by the surgeon general, Congress voted to require all cigarette packages distributed in the United States to carry a warning that use of the product “may be hazardous to your health.”
Thus began a 50-year decline in smoking. When warning labels first appeared, about 42 percent of US adults were daily cigarette smokers. by 2021, that percentage had fallen to 11.5%.
There is intense debate among researchers about whether social media is behind the crisis in children and adolescents’ mental health. In his new book, “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt points to the rise of smartphones in recent years as a tipping point that has led to a spike in suicidal behavior and reports of despair.
Other experts say that while the rise of social media has coincided with a decline in prosperity, there is no evidence that one caused the other, pointing instead to factors such as economic hardship, social isolation, racism, mass shootings schools and the opioid crisis.
In an essay published in the New York Times opinion section on Monday, Dr. Murthy pointed to research showing that teens who spent more than three hours a day on social media faced a significantly higher risk of mental health problems, and that 46 percent of teens said social media made them feel worse about their bodies their.
U.S. teens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, according to a Gallup survey of more than 1,500 teens released last fall.
In an interview last month, Dr. Murthy said he had repeatedly heard from young people who “can’t get off the platforms,” ​​often finding that hours had passed despite their intention to simply check their food.
“Platforms are designed to maximize the time we all spend on them,” he said. “It’s one thing to do that to an adult and another to do that to a child, whose impulse control is still developing, whose brain is in a sensitive phase of development.”
Dr. Murthy has long stated that he considers social media a health hazard. In its May 2023 advice on the subject, it warned that “there is ample evidence that social media can also have a serious risk of harm to the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people”.
He warned at the time, however, that the effects of social media were not fully understood. Research suggests that platforms offer both risks and benefits, providing community for young people who might otherwise feel marginalized.
On Monday, he said he had concluded that “the balance of risk versus harm does not justify the use of social media for teenagers.”
“We’ve put young people in a position where, in order to get some benefits,” such as connecting with friends, “we’re telling them they have to endure significant harm,” he said. He added, “we have enough information now to act to make platforms safer.”
Dr. Murthy consistently chooses his tone of urgency about the dangers of social media, comparing the current moment to landmark battles in public health history.
“One of the most important lessons I learned in medical school was that in an emergency, you cannot afford to wait for perfect information,” he wrote in his essay Monday. “You assess the available evidence, use your best judgment and act quickly.”
Sapna Maheshwari, Nico Grant and Maya C. Miller contributed to the report.
