The buzz over the U.S. Surgeon General’s New York Times op-ed calling for warning labels on social media apps and platforms is an important admission that Big Tech’s products are harming and killing American youth.
Citing previous efforts to protect Americans from the ravages of cigarette smoking by requiring warning labels be printed on packs of cigarettes, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has made it clear that social media platforms have created a public health crisis. Worse yet — a public health crisis they are in no hurry to address.
In a related Times article, Murthy said, “I don’t think we can solely rely on the hope that the platforms can fix this problem on their own… They’ve had 20 years.”
SAVE-Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, a 35-year-old suicide prevention organization based in Minnesota and working throughout the U.S., applauds the Surgeon General for raising this issue to the level he has in recent years.
Do we believe warning labels on social media apps and platforms is a good idea?
Absolutely. The quicker we can do it, the better.
Warning labels can make clear that social media platforms are addictive, unleash predators on children, and foster an environment that harms youth mental health, leading to increased suicidal ideation and suicide.
Are they the end-all-be-all solution to the clear and present danger to youth from the harms of social media?
Absolutely not.
The real solution is in the hands of state and national policymakers. It is time to pass legislation that responds not to Big Tech grievances about lost profit but to the concerns of parents who are losing their children.
Even in his New York Times op-ed, the Surgeon General made it clear that warning labels aren’t the primary solution. According to the Times in its related piece, “He also called on tech companies to make changes: to share internal data on the health impact of their products; to allow independent safety audits; and restrict features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which, he says, “prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.”
In Congress there is a bill in both the House and Senate called the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) that has burgeoning bipartisan support. If the bill were called up for a vote in the U.S. Senate today, there are at least 70 Democrat and Republican votes to pass it. In the House, a growing chorus of bipartisan voices are pushing the legislation forward.
KOSA would require reasonable measures be taken to prevent harm to youth — to protect them from online bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation, predatory marketing and other features. It doesn’t block access to social media, it doesn’t censor content, and it doesn’t violate the First Amendment rights we should all hold sacrosanct.
In Minnesota, the Minnesota Kids Code would require Big Tech to design their products and services to protect children, and to prioritize online privacy and safety for children by restricting data collection and profiling of minors.
Unfortunately, Big Tech’s financial backing stopped the Minnesota Kids Code from passing this legislative session. SAVE and a growing coalition of supporters intend to bring it back in the next.
The same money that blocked passage of the Minnesota Kids Code is hard at work today in Washington, D.C. Online companies are spending millions trying to undermine and defeat the Kids Online Safety Act.
A recent poll recent poll by Public Policy Polling shows that 81% of Americans want President Biden and Congress to pass laws addressing social media’s harm to children and teens.
A whopping 78% support passing the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act.
So, what are We, the People, to do? Faced with a crisis that is threatening the lives and futures of our children, do we allow Big Tech to block the passage of laws to protect youth from social media in defiance of the will of the People?
Or do We, the People, fight back by calling on our elected officials in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., to do the right thing for our children?
SAVE is fighting because our mission of suicide prevention requires us to raise our voices and be heard: There is a clear and present danger facing our youth. The time is now for elected officials to act.
Warning labels? You bet.
KOSA and the Minnesota Kids Code to save children’s lives? Yes. Absolutely, yes!
Erich Mische, the executive director of SAVE-Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, lives in Woodbury.