NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
On June 17, current Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who also served under former President Donald Trump, called for new warning labels to be included on social media platforms. The text he wants to include states that “social media is associated with significant harm to adolescent mental health.”
This comes after Murthy issued a public warning last year, warning that social media was contributing to “a national youth mental health crisis.” According to his warning, “teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health issues, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety.”
However, research shows that, on average, teenagers spend almost five hours a day on social media. Murthy also warned that 13 is “too early” for social media and previously suggested 16 as a better starting point.
SUPREME COURT RULES ON CHALLENGE OF OFFER ADMINISTRATOR'S EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE SOCIAL NETWORKS
These warnings are backed by good reasoning. In 2023, former Meta employee and whistleblower Arturo Bejar revealed an internal survey showing that 13% of teens between the ages of 13 and 15 had received “unwanted sexual advances on Instagram in the past seven days alone.” As reported in the Wall Street Journal’s 2021 “Facebook Files,” Meta’s internal research found that one-third of teenage girls reported that Instagram made them feel worse about their bodies.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warns that social media is harmful to children. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg) (Getty Images)
It's not just about Meta. These problems are widespread on social networks. In 2023, researchers at the Center to Counter Digital Hate found that TikTok's algorithms were displaying suicide-related content within three minutes of downloading the app. After eight minutes, it showed content from communities that promoted eating disorders.
The surgeon general means well. But warning labels are unlikely to make a significant difference. People are desensitized to them because they are everywhere — on cigarettes, alcohol, prescription drugs, food, cars, power tools and countless everyday products.
“In general, warning labels alone [are] “They're just not effective,” said Oriene Shin, a policy adviser for Consumer Reports. Shin said warning labels “really need to be accompanied by a safe design.” [They’re] “the icing on the cake, rather than the ultimate goal.”
There is also some debate about whether warning labels can be counterproductive. Experiments published in Harvard Business Review revealed that in some cases, “a warning label can increase a product's appeal.” Additionally, in recent years there has been legal resistance on First Amendment grounds. In 2022, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cannot require graphic warning labels on cigarettes.
The United States government has imposed warning labels on cigarettes for more than 50 years and, fortunately, smoking rates have decreased significantly. However, these labels were accompanied by vast educational efforts along with strong policies, including taxes on cigarettes, a ban on the sale of cigarettes to minors, and a ban on smoking in offices, restaurants, bars, and most public areas.
In these divided times, protecting children from the harms of social media is one of the few issues that voters and leaders on both sides support. However, despite numerous attempts at federal legislation, nothing has broken the congressional gridlock.
For example, despite being a bipartisan bill with 62 cosponsors, the “Child Online Safety Act” simply fails to pass. It has solid components, but includes some controversial pieces, such as its “duty of care” directive.
This would hold technology companies liable for harms that minors could suffer from viewing content and require platforms to “prevent and mitigate” such content. Vague language risks censoring political speech.
Congress could pass age verification to limit the harm to younger social media users. (iStock)
Another bipartisan bill stalled in Congress is the “Protecting Children from Social Media Act.” While it has several strong elements, it is complex and also includes controversial parts, such as requiring teens to get their parents’ permission to use social media. This has raised concerns among teen privacy and free speech rights advocates.
What immediate steps can we take to protect America’s youth?
First, instead of sweeping legislation, Congress can extract and pass the best part of the “Children’s Protection Act”: “prohibiting the use of algorithmic recommendation systems on persons under the age of 18.”
This would include a ban on anything that is promoted or targeted at minors, as it contributes to a “mental health crisis.” If this measure were enacted now, it would put an end to these practices.
Secondly, there should be legislation mandating that large social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and TikTok implement age verification for users. The rules should be highly protective of our privacy rights, collecting the minimum personal information necessary to confirm a user’s identity.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS REVIEWS
To achieve this, we must give up our right to anonymity online; Otherwise, adults or trolls may continue to pretend to be children, and children also often lie about their age. As stated in the Surgeon General's 2023 recommendation, “nearly 40% of children aged 8 to 12 use social media.”
Third, educators and parents can take action right now. Schools can follow the lead of the Los Angeles Unified School District (the second-largest school district in the country), which voted on June 18 to ban cellphone and social media use for its students in kindergarten through 12th grade during school days.
Another bipartisan bill stalled in Congress is the “Protecting Children from Social Media Act.” While it has several strong elements, it is complex and also includes controversial pieces, such as requiring teens to get their parents’ permission to use social media. This has raised concerns among advocates for teen privacy and free speech rights.
Parents can take a stronger stance (not always easy) by restricting their children's phone and social media use at night to promote better sleep; and foster critical thinking skills to help young people avoid being manipulated.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Related to this last point, MIT’s Center for Advanced Virtuality is an example of an online media literacy course for university students and educators. Similar educational initiatives can help improve media literacy and critical thinking skills in the future with children and adolescents.
These initiatives will not solve all problems, but they are tangible first steps that will have a real impact. The surgeon general recognizes that warning labels are, at best, an adjunct and not a primary solution. As with cigarettes, it was the powerful laws that taxed and prohibited their use, combined with the valiant efforts of smokers to quit, that produced favorable results. Placing warning labels on social media platforms without meaningful protective measures is like putting icing on an exploding cake.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARK WEINSTEIN
