From California to Texas and New York, there’s a growing movement among local lawmakers to put warning labels on social media.
Specifically, warning teenagers about the possible mental health side effects of social media platforms.
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WATCH HERE“For all the promise that this technology has, there’s also a lot of peril,” said New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes.
“We know that warning labels won’t fix everything but they tell the truth. Kids deserve the truth more than tech companies deserve silence,” said Erich Mische from KiDS: Keep It Digitally Safe.
The California attorney general has called for warning labels on the apps along with the former surgeon general.
The Kids Code Coalition held a virtual press conference Monday to discuss the current proposal in the California assembly.
“It would require the warning labels. They would come on as you initially sign into your social media account. You’d be able to scroll, but then after three hours it would take over your screen,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan. “You wouldn’t be able to click through it for 90 seconds, that warning label would be there.”
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Fifteen-year-old Ayaan Moledina is working to get something similar passed in Texas and shared what he’s experienced on social media.
“Watching others live ‘perfect lives’ online can make us feel like we’re always falling short and we internalize and I’ve experienced that more recently than I can even express and it builds up slowly until it’s heavy enough to break us,” said Moledina. “I’ve been broken before and I’ve seen my peers break.”
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SIGN UP The Texas bill has already passed the state House.
The California legislation has bi-partisan support and is set to be heard by a committee later this month.
The hope is as a growing number of states pass the warnings, it will push Congress to on a national level.
All with a goal of addressing a growing youth mental health crisis.
“I can say that if I had seen those warnings when I was in the darkest places of my life. If I had known that other people were struggling too and that help was available, I might have asked for support sooner,” Moledina said.
