Should Social Media Come With Warning Labels?
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To the Editor:
Re “Social Media Platforms Need a Health Warning,” by Vivek H. Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general (Opinion guest essay, June 18):
Dr. Murthy makes a compelling case for social media warning labels and offers parents sound suggestions for protecting their kids from toxic content.
An entire generation of children is growing up watching their parents, older siblings and other family members glued to their phones, posting pictures, sharing memes, debating politics and doomscrolling day and night as life passes them by.
Consistently modeling the behavior they’d like to see in their kids would circumvent even the most powerful algorithms and make parents the ultimate social media influencers.
Jeffrey L. Reynolds
Garden City, N.Y.
The writer is president and C.E.O. of the Family and Children’s Association.
To the Editor:
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s proposal for a government-mandated warning label on social media platforms that host speech is a dangerous one. The precedent of required warning labels on consumer products does not apply.
Should we anticipate required warning labels on broadcasts of sports programs telling adults that sitting on a couch all Sunday to watch one football game after another, while eating smothered nachos and stuffed potatoes, poses a serious risk of obesity?
