US Surgeon General Calls for Social Media Warning Labels

Social media companies should display warnings about mental health risks associated with their platforms, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a New York Times opinion piece Monday. Murthy has been examining the impacts of social media on youth mental health (see 2305230062). “A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” Murthy wrote. Cigarette packaging has carried warning labels since 1966 and Murthy believes similar warnings might reduce mental health impacts. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a joint statement supporting the surgeon general’s announcement and urging Congress to pass their Kids Online Safety Act (see 2308040048).