Top US health official warns of social media’s risk to children

'Our children have become unknowing participants in a decades-long experiment,' US advisory says [File: Illustration/Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

Washington, DC – The United States surgeon general has warned that social media can have a “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children”, calling for more regulations and research on minors’ use of internet platforms.

In a report released on Tuesday, Vivek Murthy – who acts as the top government spokesperson on public health and is known as the nation’s doctor – drew on existing research to outline social media’s effects on children.