Statement Before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate
In this written statement to the Senate HELP Committee, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy testified that up to 95% of youth ages 13–17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use it almost constantly, and that roughly 40% of children ages 8–12 use social media despite platforms' own age-13 minimums. He described insufficient evidence to call social media 'sufficiently safe' for children and pointed to research associating heavier use with depression and anxiety symptoms, alongside his separately released advisory on loneliness, which found childhood social isolation associated with elevated depression and anxiety risk lasting up to nine years. Murthy also described his own experience of childhood bullying and stigma to argue that shame prevents young people from seeking mental health support. TechKids Foundation cites this testimony as Murthy's direct account, under oath before Congress, of the evidence behind his social media and loneliness advisories.
Murthy testified that up to 95% of youth ages 13–17 report using a social media platform, and more than a third say they use social media 'almost constantly.'
He testified that although age 13 is the commonly required minimum age on U.S. social media platforms, nearly 40% of children ages 8–12 use social media.
Citing the companion Surgeon General's advisory on loneliness, Murthy testified that loneliness and social isolation in childhood increases the risk of depression and anxiety both in the short term and up to nine years later.
Murthy, Vivek H. Statement of Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., MBA, Surgeon General of the United States of America, Before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate. June 8, 2023.