More than a decade ago, a unit of the World Health Organisation classified the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
I groaned. At the time, I was running a unit of the Royal Society of New Zealand called the Science Media Centre, tasked with combating the spread of pseudoscience and misinformation.
The classification was pounced on by a vocal group of activists who believed mobile phone use is responsible for brain tumours. That technical classification, which also applies to artificial sweetener aspartame, pickled vegetables and coffee, meant only that there was insufficient evidence linking mobile phone use to cancer. But it helped feed an anti-mobile movement that led to applications for new cell sites being held up and existing sites being vandalised.
In 1965, the Office of the US Surgeon General, America’s top health official, was responsible for the first health warnings appearing on packets of cigarettes. The current Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, now wants Facebook, TikTok and other social networks to publish a health warning. He says social media use increases the risk of anxiety and depression in children, and platforms should carry warnings that use of them is “associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents”.
Murthy admits that there is limited evidence linking social media usage with mental health issues. “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,” he wrote in the New York Times earlier this month.
Although some studies suggest a correlation between heavy social media use and mental health issues, others find no significant impact or even positive effects.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications found the relationship between social media use and mental health is complex. Social media is in the same boat as video games, which Dr C Everett Koop, acting Surgeon General in 1982, advised could be hazardous to children. More than 40 years later, there’s limited evidence that playing video games leads to addiction, and even less suggesting that playing violent games means players are more likely to become violent.
The labelling of cigarettes as a health hazard came to be replicated around the world because of mounting evidence. Acting against social media platforms while lacking evidence of harm won’t help tackle the root causes of mental illness.
Murthy, who has the backing of the Biden administration but would need to get his proposal approved by the US Congress, points to the devastating impacts of cyberbullying. At a congressional hearing on child safety online in January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to parents and families of children who had died of causes they claim were related to social media.
Cyberbullying is a legitimate concern, but is not unique to social media. Traditional forms of bullying existed long before the advent of digital platforms. Slapping a screen pop-up warning on social apps won’t make a difference, especially for kids who relied on social media for connection during the pandemic lockdowns.
If anything, it gives Facebook and its rivals an out. “You were warned,” they could argue. Instead, they should be required not to use their manipulative attention-grabbing techniques on children and to publicly report the real harm they are detecting on their platforms.
When it comes to social media use, we don’t need a moral panic. We need kids equipped with the skills to make better decisions online.
