The U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has announced his intention to advocate for warning labels on social media platforms, cautioning parents that these platforms might harm adolescents’ mental health.
This announcement follows a 19-page advisory report from last year, in which Dr. Murthy concluded that “there are ample indicators that social media can have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.”
Implementing the warning labels, which would require congressional approval, could influence current and future lawsuits against social media companies.
How many children and adolescents use social media?
According to the Surgeon General’s advisory report, up to 95 percent of youth ages 13-17 report using a social media platform, with more than 33 percent saying they use social media “almost constantly.”
Although most social media platforms set a minimum age requirement of 13, research shows that nearly 40 percent of children aged 8-12 also use social media.
Why do so many young people use social media?
Social media platforms are appealing to young people for many reasons. These platforms provide a space for social interaction, entertainment, and self-expression, all of which are highly attractive to young users.
Other key reasons why social media is so appealing to this demographic are:
- Peer influence: Adolescents are heavily influenced by their peers. Seeing friends and popular influencers using social media can create a strong desire to participate and be part of the online community.
- Validation and approval: Social media provides instant feedback in the form of likes, comments, and shares, which can be highly validating. This immediate gratification can temporarily boost self-esteem and create a sense of belonging.
- FOMO (fear of missing out): The fear of missing out on social events, trends, or conversations is a powerful motivator. Social media keeps users updated and involved in the latest happenings within their social circles.
- Ease of use: Modern social media platforms are designed to be user-friendly and accessible, making it easy for children and adolescents to navigate and engage with the content.
To make matters worse, social media use is highly addictive, making it hard to quit even when users know it’s harming them.
U.S. teens spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, according to a Gallup survey of more than 1,500 adolescents.
Social media is addictive because it triggers the brain’s reward system to release dopamine, just like heroin and other drugs. When a user receives a like, retweet, or other notification, the brain receives a flood of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, which causes the user to feel pleasure.
This pleasurable feeling is, however, short-lived, causing users to seek additional rewards by checking or posting on social media. To make matters worse, the brain is rewired to adapt to the unnaturally high levels of dopamine social media releases, which is why people often feel down after they stop using social media.
At its extreme, users engage with social media to provide the continuous rewards they’re not receiving in real life until they’re engaging with social media more than they’re engaging with real life.
Another factor of social media addiction is the fact that the reward centers of the brain are most active when people are talking about themselves. Offline, it’s estimated that people talk about themselves 35 percent of the time. Online, however, people talk about themselves 80 percent of the time.
“There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users,’ illegal drugs and software.”
Edward Tufte, a professor emeritus of statistics and computer science at Yale University
What are the negative consequences of social media use among children and adolescents?
A growing body of research has found that social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can have a detrimental effect on users' mental health. This is particularly true for young people whose brains are still developing.
According to research published in the International Journal of Information Management, social media usage dramatically increases anxiety, loneliness, social isolation, and depression in users, while decreasing attention span and memory.
Additionally, social media limits the likelihood that users will have beneficial in-person relationships and social interactions. Even when a user is having an in-person interaction, social media platforms cause “phubbing,” which describes a situation in which an individual uses, or is distracted by, their smartphone during a face-to-face communication.
Potential risk of harm from content exposure
Extreme and inappropriate content remains easily accessible to children and adolescents through direct pushes and algorithmic designs. In some tragic cases, this content has been linked to childhood deaths from suicide and self-harm.
Such content is especially risky for those already experiencing mental health difficulties. Social media can normalize self-harm behaviors and lead to the formation of suicide pacts and self-harm models.
Social media also perpetuates body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, social comparison, and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.
Nearly half of adolescents aged 13-17 said social media worsened their body image. Additionally, roughly two-thirds of adolescents are often exposed to hate-based content, with a significant number of adolescent girls of color reporting exposure to racist content or language.
Potential risk of harm from excessive and problematic use
Platforms are designed to maximize engagement, encouraging excessive use and behavioral dysregulation. Features like push notifications, autoplay, infinite scroll, and likes keep users engaged. Excessive use can overstimulate the brain's reward center, similar to addiction pathways.
Frequent social media users can experience changes in brain structure akin to those seen in substance use or gambling addictions.
Compulsive social media use is linked to sleep problems, attention issues, and feelings of exclusion. A review of 42 studies found a consistent relationship between excessive social media use and poor sleep quality, reduced sleep duration, and depression among youth. Poor sleep is linked to altered neurological development, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts.
Problematic social media use is also linked to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents and the fear of missing out (FOMO), which is associated with depression, anxiety, and neuroticism.
What would a surgeon general’s warning look like?
Dr. Murthy envisions that the warning would appear regularly on screens when people use social media sites.
“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 proven safe.”
Dr. Vivek Murthy
Will a surgeon general’s warning become a reality?
Implementing warning labels on social media platforms would require congressional action, and it is uncertain how quickly this might occur, even with apparent bipartisan unity around child safety online.
The last federal law aimed at protecting children online was enacted in 1998, six years before Facebook’s founding.
Even with congressional approval, warning labels would likely face legal challenges from tech companies. These companies may argue that the science on the harmful effects of social media is not settled and invoke free speech law, claiming that the government cannot force companies to carry a product warning, which they may describe as "compelled speech."
How would warning labels impact current and future lawsuits against social media companies
If warning labels were implemented, they could have significant implications for current and future lawsuits against social media companies. Warning labels could be used as evidence that social media platforms are aware of the potential risks and harms associated with their use, which could strengthen the case for plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging harm from social media.
Additionally, the presence of warning labels might influence public perception and increase pressure on social media companies to implement safer practices and policies.
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