Surgeon General calls for tobacco-style social media warnings, time limits for parents

Calls for a new warning label saw the surgeon general take to social media to treat tobacco under the favored banner of “an emergency”.

(Video credit: NBC)

Earning high marks for hypocrisy, the same administration that hired TikTok influencers to place propaganda and is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on an alleged censorship campaign with Big Tech now wants to warn parents about the mental health risks related to excessive use of social media.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's call included one op-ed published in the New York Times on Monday in which he stated: “It is time to require a Surgeon General's warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant harm to the mental health of teenagers”.

“The Surgeon General's warning label, which requires action by Congress, regularly reminds parents and teens that social media has not been proven safe,” he added after expressing concern that “the crisis of mental health among young people is an emergency, and social networks.” has become an important contributor.”

“Teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media face twice the risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the average daily use in this age group, in the summer of 2023, it was 4.8 hours,” noted the surgeon general. “Also, nearly half of teens say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”

Appearing on NBC's “Today” show with co-host Savannah Guthrie, Murthy expressed that the number one question parents ask her about “is social media.” They want to know, is this safe for my children? How should I handle it?”

As it happened, Murthy's tangent that narrowly grazed concerns about the percentage of children pretending to have somehow fallen down the rainbow's slippery slope followed his own posting of a message Admiral Rachel Levine's “Pride” in early June.

The deputy health secretary, who publicly defended expanding access to genital mutilation and chemical castration under the flowery language of “gender-affirming care,” declared: “Pride reminds us that we a strong, resilient and powerful community that fights hate. I am a positive and optimistic person, and I believe that by working together we can create a healthier and better future for all people living in America.”

pic.twitter.com/t6P0mT7Wqq

— ADM Rachel Levine (@HHS_ASH) June 1, 2024

To support his push for a warning label, Murthy wrote in the Times: “Evidence from tobacco labels shows that surgeon general warnings can raise awareness and change behavior.”

“While the platforms claim they are making their products safer, Americans need more than words. We need evidence…One of the worst things for a parent is knowing your children are at risk but not being able to do anything about it,” he added. “This is how parents tell me they feel when it comes to social media: helpless and alone in the face of toxic content and hidden harm.”

Murthy had earlier continued register suggesting that parents “ban together and say, as a group, we're not going to let our kids use social media until they're 16, 17, 18 or whatever age they want,” as a means of preventing them from being “exposed to early damage”.

The surgeon general's coordinated call for corporate media comes ahead of a Supreme Court decision in the case of Murthy v. Missouri about alleged direct communications between the federal government and Big Tech toward censorship and deletion of content on social media platforms and whether First Amendment rights have been violated.

Reactions to the warning label were overly skeptical of the motivation, as social media users couldn't help but point out the recommendations originated at the federal level.

Zero evidence that adding a warning will improve children's mental health.
Classic Vivek Murthy politics: vax mandates, masking for toddlers, 6 feet distance, just making things up. No evidence required. pic.twitter.com/ZwjIB9GSO1

— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) June 17, 2024

It's not about helping mental health. It's about the appearance, the pretense, of “doing something.”

— Dr. Krusty, MD (@Krusty_M_D) June 17, 2024

So the same people in our government who make recommendations to vaccinate children with 72 vaxx or choose your gender now want to set standards on government-approved social media posts by health care providers.
really
Not even the most liberal provider will agree

— tislivingLifeRN FNP (@TislivingFnp) June 17, 2024

Making social media “safer” but paying for the surgical disfigurement and sterilization of children?

— Mollypies (@nonplus1911) June 17, 2024

Staff writer

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and seeker of truth, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and dog, and when he's not researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel ·the.

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