Surgeon General Calls For Tobacco-Style Warning Labels On Social Media Platforms

“Social media has not been proved safe” and emergency action is needed, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an opinion piece Monday.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling on Congress to require warning labels on social media, saying emergency action is needed as rampant use of the platforms has ignited a mental health crisis among adolescents.

“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,” he said in an opinion piece published in The New York Times on Monday.

Such labels, like the ones mandated for cigarettes and other tobacco products, would regularly inform parents and adolescent users that “social media has not been proved safe,” which could improve behavior patterns, he said.

Adolescents spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media, according to a Gallup survey conducted last fall. Those who spend more than three hours a day face a heightened risk for mental health problems, a 2019 study on social media’s mental health effects found.

Social media giant Meta, which owns platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, responded earlier this year to child safety concerns by announcing new features that restrict teens from viewing certain content, including posts about drugs, nudity, self-harm, suicide and eating disorders. A Meta spokesperson also told NPR in January that the company is investing in age verification tools and technology that can better detect when users lie about their age.