Social media and mental-health havoc: Here’s how the government is stepping in

Black and white silhouette of a young girl looking at her phone while sitting in a big window (Credit: Alan Oliver—Getty Images)

While 86% of parents have expressed concern over the online safety of their kids, according to a recent State of the Youth survey, many don’t know what to do about it—and about one in three wish they had more resources to help them figure it out.

This week, the White House heeded that call. Noting that approximately 95% of teenagers and 40% of children between ages 8 and 12 use some form of social media—which has been linked by the U.S. surgeon general and others to the ongoing youth mental-health crisis—the Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force released a massive report of best practices both for families and the industry. It called for more industry accountability and for Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the first law aiming to protect children online since 1998—long before smartphones or TikTok even existed.