Social Media and Youth Mental Health

This advisory describes the current evidence on the impacts of social media on the mental health of children and adolescents. It states that we cannot conclude social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents and outlines immediate steps we can take to mitigate the risk of harm to children and adolescents. Key takeaways:

1. Social media use by young people is nearly universal
2. Social media presents a meaningful risk of harm to youth, while also providing benefits
3. We cannot conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents
4. We can take immediate actions to make social media safer for youth