A group of US attorneys general want labels put on social media apps to warn children of possible addictive effects.
Forty-two US attorneys general say they would support adding warning labels to social media platforms, similar to those found on cigarette boxes.
In an open letter to US lawmakers, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) said the warnings could help address a growing mental health crisis that is caused in part by social media apps.
“All of us share an abiding concern for the safety of the kids in our jurisdictions—and algorithm-driven social media platforms threaten that safety,” the letter reads.
The letter supports a call made by Vivek Murthy, the US’s surgeon general, in June to add such a warning label to social media platforms.
He argued in a New York Times opinion piece that a surgeon general’s warning would “remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe”.
One 2019 study of 6,500 US teens published in JAMA Psychiatry found that those who spent more than three hours per day on social media are at higher risk of mental health problems than their peers.
A 2023 Gallup poll found that US teens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on social media.
In the US, attorneys general advise state governments on different areas of legislation and represent the state in court as their chief legal officers.
In 2023, the NAAG and the New York Attorney General filed a federal lawsuit against Meta for harming young people’s mental health, according to a press release.
The lawsuit alleges that the company “designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms that … addict children and teens.”
The open letter says the warning on social media platforms doesn’t go far enough on its own but would “complement” other actions for more oversight.
The US Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act this summer which requires tech companies to protect children from online harms.
