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A new California bill would add warning labels to social media platforms

AB 56, a new bill sponsored in part by California's attorney general, would require social media platforms display warning labels covering their potential health risks.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan have proposed a new bill, AB 56, that would require social media companies to put a warning label on their platforms to disclose their mental health risks. Citing social media platforms’ “harnessing of addictive features and harmful content for the sake of profits,” Attorney General Bonta says that consumers should have access to information about platforms that could impact their mental health. The advisory claimed that social media could “have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents” and that “children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems.” A warning label is unlikely to completely fix things and social media isn’t the sole cause of all children’s problems, but labels are another level that can be pulled to change things.

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