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Two top US Senators have unveiled legislation that would require social media platforms to display mental health warning labels.

What’s the deal: Introduced by Senators Katie Britt (R-AK) and John Fetterman (D-PA), the Stop the Scroll Act would mandate social media platforms to display popup mental health warning labels that users must dismiss whenever they log on. These warnings, to be developed by the surgeon general and the Federal Trade Commission, would highlight the potential mental health risks associated with extensive social media use and direct users to relevant mental health resources.

What one lawmaker is saying: In a statement, Senator Britt said, “Every child deserves the chance to live their own personal American Dream, but our nation’s youth mental health crisis is getting in the way for far too many. With the Stop the Scroll Act, Senator Fetterman and I are following through on the Surgeon General’s call to create a warning label for social media platforms, but we’re going further by requiring the warning label to also point users to mental health resources.

Digging Deeper: Earlier this year, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a call for action regarding the mental health risks posed by social media, particularly for young people. In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Murthy said there was a connection between extensive social media use and the rising rates of anxiety and depression among adolescents. He argued that young people who spend more than three hours daily on social media are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing mental health issues. Murthy called for the implementation of warning labels on social media platforms to inform users of these dangers and advocated for broader efforts to address the youth mental health crisis exacerbated by social media.

Pushback from social media companies: Social media companies have previously pushed back against the proposed requirements for mental health warning labels on their platforms, arguing that such measures could be overly burdensome and not effectively address the underlying issues of mental health. Earlier this year, Meta argued that mandatory popups could disrupt the user experience and might lead to warning fatigue, where users become desensitized to the messages.

What they’ve offered: The major four social media platforms (X, Facebook, Instagram, & TikTok) have often promoted investments they’ve made to promote mental well-being among users, including content moderation practices and partnerships with mental health organizations.