Opinion Today: Does social media need a warning label?

The surgeon general says a strong yes.

View in browser|nytimes.com June 18, 2024 By Ariel Kaminer Ms. Kaminer is an Opinion editor. In a New York Times Opinion guest essay on Monday, Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, issued a clarion call to protect young people. "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 wrote. That would be a bold step on an issue that has concerned and consumed so many families (mine included). Murthy previously issued a public advisory about young people and social media, calling attention to the dangers that these platforms may pose. A surgeon general's warning label, which is something that Congress must authorize, would be a significant new measure, a direct communication that "would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe." Murthy, who has served under Presidents Biden and Obama, takes an unusual approach to the role of surgeon general, calling attention to issues that some predecessors might not have understood to be matters of public health. Last year, he wrote for Times Opinion about what he called the national epidemic of loneliness. In that essay, which kicked off a major mental health campaign, Murthy was open about his own personal struggles in a way that is rare for public officials. In the new essay, too, he writes from the heart. "As a father of a 6- and a 7-year-old who have already asked about social media, I worry about how my wife and I will know when to let them have accounts. How will we monitor their activity, given the increasingly sophisticated techniques for concealing it? How will we know if our children are being exposed to harmful content or dangerous people? It's no wonder that when it comes to managing social media for their kids, so many parents are feeling stress and anxiety — and even shame." If you're a young person struggling to maintain the right balance on social media or if you're a parent who feels, as Murthy writes, "helpless and alone in the face of toxic content and hidden harms," do you feel that a warning label could make a difference? Read the essay and decide for yourself. Read the guest essay: Xinmei Liu Guest Essay Surgeon General: Why I'm Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms It's time for decisive action to protect our young people. By Vivek H. Murthy Here's what we're focusing on today: Editors' Picks Tennessee Abortion Clinic Workers Speak Out About the State's Near-Total Ban In Memphis, a doctor and a volunteer driver contemplate the discontinuation of abortion services at a women's health clinic two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. By Lynne Sachs More From Opinion Thomas L. 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