It’s about time that Big Tech was put in its place.
And not a moment too soon, given its darkly meddlesome effect in varied elections.
Not to mention its darkly meddlesome effect on highly impressionable psyches, as evidenced by the generally directionless lives of multiple younger Americans.
Which is precisely why the nation’s surgeon general is gunning for “warning labels” to be smacked upon social media platforms, which, to date, remain largely unregulated.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently published a strong opinion piece against social media in the New York Times: “Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms.”
A rather straight to the point headline, and one can only hope that it comes to fruition well before the presidential election.
“One of the most important lessons I learned in medical school was that in an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information. You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act quickly. The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency – and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote.
Indeed, it has. It has also emerged as a major contributor to the total brainwashing of highly impressionable young people, including Generation Z.
After all, upwards of 20 percent or more of such youngsters perceive Osama bin Laden as a “freedom fighter” … courtesy of social media.
Even more are apparently pro-Hamas, given their utter inability to think critically, courtesy of Marxist public schools.
On top of that, adolescents hooked on social media tend to spend virtually all their free time on the useless platforms, undoubtedly wondering why their lives remain disastrously desultory.
“Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies,” Murthy continued.
And nearly 100 percent of them are likely addicted to social media and the false validation that it periodically brings.
“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” Murthy declared.
Absolutely.
“Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior. When asked if a warning from the surgeon general would prompt them to limit or monitor their children’s social media use, 76 percent of people in one recent survey of Latino parents said yes,” Murthy asserted.
All the more reason to get those warning labels started.
At minimum, they make take Big Tech down a notch or two, which is long overdue.
“To be clear, a warning label would not, on its own, make social media safe for young people,” Murthy added.
Definitely not. Which is precisely why more aggressive action against billionaires bent on bringing about communism via the Democrats (provided they are as powerful as Castro) should be put in place already.
“Legislation from Congress should shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content that too often appears in algorithm-driven feeds. The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use,” Murthy noted.
In other words, platforms should be regulated given their egregiously monopolistic behavior, coupled with irreparably damaging effects on American youth.
After all, the nation is becoming similar to 1930s Germany with all the hate spewed online by the ever-tolerant left.
One of the best parts of Murthy’s editorial was calling out Big Tech for actions that its varied billionaires have long denied – their total disregard of accountability, not to mention transparency.
“Why is it that we have failed to respond to the harms of social media when they are no less urgent or widespread than those posed by unsafe cars, planes or food? These harms are not a failure of willpower and parenting; they are the consequence of unleashing powerful technology without adequate safety measures, transparency or accountability,” Murthy asserted.
Indeed, they are.
One can only hope that Big Tech one day faces a major league comeuppance for all the wrongs it’s clearly responsible for.
Starting with propelling Mr. “Change” himself, Obama, to the presidency in 2008.
Obama is well known for running one of the nation’s first “social media campaigns,” and the devastating impacts of that campaign are felt well into his third term.
Otherwise known as the Biden presidency.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
