Texas lawmakers want to add warning label to social media platforms

With growing data linking social media use to an increase in teen depression, eating disorders and suicides, Texas House lawmakers debated whether there should be warning labels placed on platforms. 

The bill being debated would require platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to show a warning that there is a link between a teen's social media usage and significant mental health issues. 

What we know:

A House Committee on Public Health hearing was held Monday to discuss House Bill 499, authored by Texas Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint).

The bill would require users to click on a warning label, stating they understand the association between social media use and a minor's significant mental health issues. 

Last summer, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy made the same plea to Congress with a bill dubbed the Stop the Scroll Act. It was introduced in September, but it never made it out of committee. 

Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) wants a warning to include the addictive nature of social media. 

"They have the data that shows how addictive it is," he said. "They have hired child psychologists to make sure it is more addictive and then withheld that information from parents."

Lawmakers also debated if a warning label would actually have an impact. 

Gonzalez said the label would educate both teens and their parents. 

What they're saying:

"We know adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face risks of anxiety and depression," said Gonzalez. "We know when we added cigarette health warning labels, the understanding of consumption raised for the consumer."

Dr. Lauren Gambill, a pediatrician representing the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Pediatric Society, said she's seen the damage from social media on her patients firsthand. 

"As a hospital-based pediatrician, I take care of kids in the hospital following suicide attempts at an alarming frequency," she told the committee.

Gambill said in her decade of practice, problems linked to social media are not only becoming more frequent, but the children impacted are becoming younger. Problems extend beyond depression and suicide attempts to eating disorders prompted by so-called health influencers. 

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"My patients tell me they follow ‘what I eat daily’ trends and go to social media for grueling workout routines," she said. "By the time they get to me, they are so nutritionally depleted that their heartrates slow down, and they can't maintain their blood pressures."

Dr. Gambill told the committee the warning label would be a step in the right direction to address the ongoing mental health crisis.

"Will it solve it? Will it reach every child? Absolutely not," she said. "But I think if we save even one life, I think it would be important."

What's next:

Gonzalez said the bill would require the Health and Human Services Commission to write the warning with input from a panel of experts. 

The bill was left pending in the public health committee.