Social media is “an environmental toxin” and represents “a threat to public health.” New York is leading the way here and is probably the first major American city in the world to describe the platforms as harmful to the “mental health,” especially of the very young. branded.
In his annual State of the City address, Mayor Eric Adams used strong words. “We cannot stand idly by as Big Tech monetizes our children's privacy and endangers their mental health,” he thundered, stressing that New York is the first city in the United States to take a similar initiative on social media . “Just like with tobacco and guns, we will look at social media as another threat to public health and ensure that tech companies take responsibility for their products,” he added, pledging to “fix” a crisis that primarily affects children and young people regards.
The details of the initiatives to be implemented will be announced at a later date, but some hope the mayor will reinstate the prohibitionism of Michael Bloomberg, who banned cell phones in public schools as mayor of the Big Apple. A law was then withdrawn by his successor, Bill de Blasio, who called it outdated. While authorities wait for the measures to be followed, they have released an alert outlining a series of measures adults can take to promote healthy social media use. It is recommended to only allow access to smartphones or social media from the age of at least 14 years and to draw up a family plan with rules to be followed and respected when using the platforms. Instead, state and federal authorities are being asked to protect young people from “predatory practices” through stricter guidelines.
Social media has recently come under fire for the role its platforms have played in young people's mental health and has been hit with a series of legal actions. Vivek Murhy, head of the Biden administration's health agency, sounded the alarm last year by saying that social media poses a major risk to children and raising concerns about the hypothesis that there is a link between time spent on social media and depression Ansa could give. Last October, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's company that controls Facebook and Instagram, found itself in the crosshairs of 41 US states, accusing it of its platforms' ability to “interfere with the education and everyday lives of young people.”
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