California Attorney General Rob Bonta and state Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced legislation to require social media companies to warn users about the risk of poor mental health outcomes for adolescents, according to a Dec. 9 news release.
Here are three things to know:
- Similar legislation was introduced at the federal level in September.
- The legislation follows a call from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD. In June, Dr. Murthy published an op-ed calling for social media sites to display a label “stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.”
- In a letter published earlier in September, 42 state attorneys general urged Congress to mandate a Surgeon General’s warning label on algorithm-driven social media platforms.
