Social media has changed the world, for good and for bad. The USA's top doctor said one bad thing is it can cause mental health problems. Dr Vivek Murthy wants social media companies to put mental health warnings on their sites. He is worried about the harm social media does to young people. He said youngsters see too much extreme sexual and violent content. Murthy said: "It is time to require a…warning label…stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents." He said laws were also needed to keep young people safe online.
Dr Murthy has wanted tighter controls of social media for many years. In 2023, he warned that social media could harm the mental health of children. His recent warning is published in The New York Times. He wrote: "The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency. Social media has emerged as an important contributor." He also said young people spend too long online. He warned that teenagers "who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms".
Try the same news story at these levels:
Social Media - Level 0, Social Media - Level 1 or Social Media - Level 3
Sources- https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-surgeon-general-calls-social-media-platforms-display-mental-health-warnings
- https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/17/24180005/surgeon-general-warning-labels-social-media-mental-health
- https://apnews.com/article/surgeon-general-social-media-mental-health-df321c791493863001754401676f165c
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