The SG has called for warning labels on social media platforms. What many folks may not understand is, the warning label is the last step in a involved regulatory process that will come with a lot of costs and controls.
Do we need this? Well, I believe this video shows Dr. Murthy’s thinking and he has some persuasive data on his side to show that social media can be linked to some pretty extensive harms.
He also did a great job of acknowledging that media use in general is complicated and it is not a simple matter of good or bad. Here we definitely agree, it is not a binary answer and not the same answer for every child, so education and guidance towards “media nutrition” is key.
Finally, the Surgeon General did distinguish social media from other moral panic issues like rock music and TV, but when given the chance he did not give video games the same pass! Murky waters ahead.
