A Warning Label for Social Media Could Also Save Kids From Gun Violence Mother Jones [Video]

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On Monday, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require a warning label for social media platforms. The move is intended to battle a rising crisis of mental illness and suicide among the nation’s youth. Such a label from the top federal authority on public health also has the potential to reduce dangers from a specific trend: the insidious marketing of guns to kids.

“Young people are biologically more vulnerable to social media influencers and advertising, and more likely to engage in impulsive and risky behavior,” Sandy Hook Promise CEO Nicole Hockley, whose six-year-old son Dylan was murdered in the 2012 school attack, wrote in a statement following Murthy’s announcement. “We stand with the US Surgeon General on requesting a warning label and demand bipartisan action to regulate the content that youth under age 18 are exposed …