IMO calls for urgent action to tackle threat of social media companies to health of young people

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has called for a change in how the Irish authorities respond to the “clear threat to the mental health of young people” that social media platforms pose. Prof Matthew Sadlier, Chairman of the Consultant Committee of the IMO, was responding to a call from the US Surgeon General for warning labels to be put on social media platforms to warn users of their association with negative mental health impacts.

Prof Sadlier said that the actions taken by the US Surgeon General had “profound significance” and reflect the “absolute confidence” medical communities have across the world in the “real danger” these platforms carry, particularly for young users.

“Social media companies need to prove safety before launching new products and innovations rather than governments retrospectively looking for harm,” he said.

The issue of the harm caused by social media featured prominently at the most recent AGM of the IMO in April. At that event a series of motions were passed calling for:

• A ban on smartphone use by pupils within primary schools;
• A well-funded public health strategy to combat social media addiction, use, and harm (on the lines of the tobacco-free policy);
• The Attorney General and Department of Justice to investigate the possibility of taking a legal action against Meta based on their products’ detrimental effect upon youth mental health (similar to a case being taken by 42 US Attorney Generals).

Prof Sadlier added: “The evidence is mounting that these platforms pose a real threat to the mental health of young users. There is an urgent need now to move at pace to protect users from the dangerous, harmful, and addictive practices which the owners of these platforms deploy against their users in order to boost their bottom line. Our children will only have one childhood and we need to ensure that it is a safe one.”

Authors