Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, wants social media platforms to come up with warning labels like tobacco and alcohol.
In a New York Times op-ed, Murthy argues that young people are suffering mental health issues because they're spending too much time on these sites and not enough time interacting with content that's "inherently beneficial or harmful."
He says it's time for social media sites to put warning labels on cigarettes and alcohol, "like putting warning labels on convenience stores because they sell alcohol and tobacco, rather than labeling the harmful products themselves."
But a review of Murthy's op-ed by the Consumerist finds that his argument is "flawed on multiple levels: There is no scientific consensus that social media is causing mental health issues among youth; social media use among youth does not present a similar level of risk as tobacco and alcohol use; and the alleged risks of social media come from interaction with specific types of content, not from the platforms themselves."
Indeed, the American Psychological Association has warned that "using social media is not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people," and "there are countless positive uses of social media for children, including to explore art and music, monitor news and sports, and connect with friends
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.