The U.S. Surgeon General is warning there is not enough evidence to show that social media is safe for young people. Dr. Vivek Murthy is calling on tech companies, parents and caregivers to take “immediate action to protect kids now.” Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says social media platforms are causing negative effects on children and likely to adults as well. “Children, years later after they’ve been doing it for years, they still have the same issues they experienced as a child but now they have much more underlying, difficult problems from dealing with it for so many years.” With young people’s social media use “near universal” but its true impact not fully understood, Murthy is asking tech companies to share data and increase transparency with researchers and the general public. He asks policymakers to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula and other products children use.
