The surgeon general wants tobacco style warnings applied to social media platforms. In an op-ed at the New York Times, Dr. Vivek Murthy said immediate action is needed to protect young people from the potential mental health harms of social media. He probably doesn’t mean anything the left is doing, such as encouraging children to have gender surgeries and drugs to transform their bodies.
He spoke with Savannah Guthrie on NBC ‘News’.
“Savannah, I’m really glad you asked, and let me just say parents are struggling all over the country,” Murthy began. “I’ve spent time with thousands of parents over the last few years all over America and the number one question they often ask me about social media.
“Is it safe for my kids? How should I manage it, and what data is this telling us? Savannah, is not only have companies not demonstrated that their platforms are safe for kids, but there’s evidence of harm.
“Adolescents more than three hours a day on social media is associated with a doubling of the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average amount of use per day among adolescents is nearly 5 hours.
Murthy continued. So that’s a deeply concerning warning to me not just as Surgeon General but as a parent myself. Now, a warning label would help parents to understand these risks. These parents don’t know those, and labels can be helpful in changing awareness and changing behavioir. When Congress authorized these labels for tobacco more than half a century, smoking was 40%. Today it is 12% and an extraordinary effort. Labels were a part of that effort.
Social media can be dangerous for children. He suggested that it is a good idea to keep young children off of social media through middle school. It is. Parents should do that, and they don’t. So, should we let the government label platforms?
However, his answer is the camel’s nose of big government under everyone’s tent. What is to keep them from thinking people owning a gun is criminal and putting warning labels on all pro-2nd Amendment sites? Why wouldn’t they label conservative sites that believe in free speech or object to drugs and surgeries to transform children?
It sounds like a slippery slope, but what do I know?
Was it warning labels or the huge hike in the price of cigarettes that deterred smoking? The Surgeon General talking about the dangers and people making up stories of second hand smoke certainly helped.
Do we really need a big government to tell parents what their children can see or not see? The government tends to get political nonstop. They’re more dangerous than social media.
What do you think? Is it the same as tobacco?
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