The same warning labels that we see on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages could soon be coming to your favorite social platforms.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called on congress to mandate social platforms to alert parents of the risks young people face online.
In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Murthy acknowledged that social media has been proven unsafe for adolescents and action must be taken – and he’s not exaggerating either.
Nearly half of all Gen Z (42%) report battles with depression and feelings of hopelessness, which is almost twice as high as older generations over 25.
When understanding these staggering numbers, it is also important to contextualize that Gen Z is 27% more likely to report mental health concerns than older generations – and 37% more likely to seek treatment.
Despite the progressive efforts of some Gen Z, social media is indeed a double-edged sword when it comes to both healing and harming mental health.
Over consumption on social media can be a huge factor in enabling feelings of hopelessness as young people are doom scrolling online for long periods each day. On the other hand, some Gen Z find comfort and community online which can aid mental health efforts.
When it comes to preventative measures, I couldn’t agree more with Murthy. The reality of it is, children and teens today are struggling to fight against the broader, negative impact technology has on us.
Our parents, many of whom grew up without ever imagining this type of technology, typically cannot provide much help on the matter either – unless they just happen to be working in these fields.
While social media platform founders may not have anticipated that their online spaces could be harmful, the statistics speak for themselves. As more data comes out further proving harmful effects – it is the responsibility of our government, tech founders, parents/caretakers and the overall community to ensure that we work to amend this.
A warning label along the lines of what X and Instagram have done to flag fake news would be a perfectly simple solution and first step to introducing this warning mandate. This would allow the user to make the end choice on proceeding with the platform.
Keeping it gee, I’m in favor of mandates and full transparency from social platforms. A lot can be done to better manage the harmful impacts of social media, especially for generations to come. I look forward to seeing how our government takes this call on.
Miranda Perez (she/her/hers) is a Jersey City, NJ-based journalist who covers the tech industry. Follow her on X and Instagram: @mimithegee.
Edited by NaTyshca Pickett