US surgeon general calls for social media platforms to display mental health warnings

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy argued social media companies should be required to display mental health warnings about the use of their platforms.

Murthy argued in an op-ed for the New York Times that the platforms have been particularly harmful for young Americans. The official first sounded the alarm about social media last year when he called on Congress to enact policies that would prevent adolescents from being exposed to extreme violent and sexual content via algorithms.

"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. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe," Murthy wrote.