By Michaela Gordoni
Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams says social media should be treated like cigarettes.
“We know, based on Surgeon General [Vivek] Murthy’s report, that there is increasing and very valid evidence out there showing links between social media use, particularly at a younger age, and increasing anxiety, increasing depression, less sleep, which actually leads to mental health problems and also obesity,” Adams said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Murthy stated social media should have warning labels like tobacco products.
Adams said that “similar to cigarettes,” the government needs to “point out the fact that these substances, meaning social media platforms, are incredibly addictive. And we’re hearing again in these [social media addiction] lawsuits that they were specifically designed to addict children, again, the way cigarette manufacturers tried to addict children back in the day.”
Related: Surgeon General Recommends Warning Labels for Social Media
Last Wednesday, Meta and YouTube were found guilty for having platforms that cause young users mental-health related harm. The day prior, Meta was found guilty by the state of New Mexico for failing to prevent child exploitation on its platforms. The tech giant will pay a penalty of $375 million.
Meta and YouTube plan to appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” Meta said.
Adams is in favor of a policy that would restrict social media for anyone under 16, like Australia has.
“The policy is going to be hard, but Australia has already done it,” Adams said. “They banned social media for people under 16. You have 25 states, I believe, that are to the point where they’re discussing or have legislation keeping social media and phones out of schools. And we need to really understand the harm that’s occurring to our children because of this unfettered access to screen time and social media.”
He added that children should never sleep with phones in their rooms.
Another former U.S. Surgeon General, Antonia Coella Novello, who was under Bush’s administration, recently raised a red flag on children’s mental health.
“When you have 31 percent of United States children, one out of three, having some kind of mental issue in the last 30 days, you have a problem,” said Antonia Coello Novello, MD, MPH, who served as surgeon general under President George H.W. Bush. “But what worries me the most, one out of five has thought about suicide. Sixteen percent have made a plan, and nine percent have accomplished it.”
“I believe that social media is one of the biggest causes of children having problems,” Novello added, citing reasons like cyberbullying, loneliness, and body issues.
Whether it’s bans, restrictions or warning labels, these doctors and countless others agree that something must be done to provide more safety for US children.
Read Next: Is 13 Too Young for Social Media? The US Surgeon General Thinks So
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