<
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-surgeon-general-is-wrong-social-media-doesnt-need-warning-labels>
"Warning: Reading this article may cause you to question the Surgeon General’s
reliance on feelings over science.
In 1982, then-U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop said video games could
be hazardous to children and warned of kids becoming “addicted” to them,
causing problems for their “body and soul.”
This warning was not based on any actual science or evidence, but it kicked off
decades of moral panic and fearmongering over the supposed risks of video games
and children. This culminated in the Supreme Court rejecting a California law
to require labeling of video games and restrict kids’ access to them, deeming
it unconstitutional.
Studies have repeatedly debunked the claim that video games make kids more
violent. Indeed, a recent Stanford meta-study of dozens of previous studies on
kids and video games found no evidence of a connection between video games and
violence. The researchers noted that if there was any correlation, it seemed to
come from the public believing the unproven claims of a connection because
politicians kept insisting it must be there.
History repeats itself.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has decided to call on Congress to put
warning labels on social media sites, similar to those found on cigarettes. He
claims this is necessary because “the mental health crisis among young people
is an emergency—and social media has emerged as an important contributor.”
While Dr. Murthy admits at the very beginning of his plea that he does not have
“perfect information,” he suggests that it’s important to use his “best
judgment” and “act quickly.”
The major problem is that, as with Dr. Koop and video games, the evidence
supports little more than the fact that politicians jumping on the moral panic
bandwagon has resulted in many people falsely believing that social media is
harmful to kids. Yes, there is a high-profile book out making many false claims
about social media, but nearly all of the researchers in the space think it’s
blown out of proportion."
Via
Garbage Day: Hypebeasts without the hype
https://www.garbageday.email/p/hypebeasts-without-hype
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
