US Surgeon General Calls Warning Label On Social Media Apps To Protect Teens

US General Surgeon, Vivek Murthy, (photo: x @Surgeon_General)

JAKARTA - The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, on Monday 17 June called for additional warning labels on social media applications as a reminder that the platform has caused harm to young people, especially teenagers.

The Surgeon General is the highest public health official in the United States. The expert served as the main spokesperson for public health issues in the federal government and provided information and guidance on health and well-being to the public.

In an opinion article in the New York Times, Murthy wrote that a warning label alone would not make social media safe for teens, but could raise awareness and change behavior, as evidence shows from a study of tobacco. The US Congress needs to pass legislation requiring the warning label.

Child advocates and lawmakers have long accused social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat of having a detrimental effect on children, including shortening the range of attention, promoting negative body images, and making them vulnerable to online bullying and predators.

"It's time to require general surgeon warning labels on social media platforms, which state that social media is related to significant mental health losses for teens," Murthy wrote on Monday.

TikTok, Snap, and Meta Platforms, owners of Facebook and Instagram, did not respond to requests for comment on the opinion.

CEOs of the three companies, along with social media platform X and messaging app Discord, were interrogated by US senators in January during a hearing on child safety online, where Republican Senator Lindsey Graham accused the leaders of having "blood in your hands" for failing to protect young users from sexual predators.

Several US states have been working to pass legislation to protect children from harmful effects of social media, such as anxiety, depression, and other mental illness.

The New York state legislator this month passed a law banning social media platforms from displaying "adictive" algorithmic content to users under the age of 18 without parental consent.

In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law banning children under 14 from using social media platforms and requiring children aged 14 and 15 years to get parental consent.