Friend,

Experts are sounding the alarm: America’s youth are facing a mental health crisis, and there’s increasing evidence to show unchecked and intentionally targeted social media use is fueling it.

The statistics around teenagers and social media are remarkable. According to Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy in a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, “nearly all teenagers in the United States (95 percent) use social media platforms – two-thirds use them daily and more than one-third ‘almost constantly.’”

It’s no coincidence that teens are also reporting record levels of hopelessness and despair – feelings being fueled by black box social media algorithms which facilitate bullying, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and more. The situation is so dire that the Surgeon General recently issued a formal advisory on social media and its effect on youth mental health. And it starts well before the teenage years with carefully crafted, highly addictive, data driven models….designed to hook our kids as soon as they encounter a screen.

We simply cannot afford to let these trends continue unabated. That’s why I’m taking urgent action in the Senate: My bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, just passed unanimously out of committee and is headed to the Senate floor.

This lifesaving plan would provide specific tools to stop Big Tech companies from driving toxic content at kids and hold them accountable for putting profits over the safety of our children. These commonsense steps have growing support from Democrats and Republicans, young people and their parents, mental health experts and public interest advocates. In fact it was just voted unanimously out of committee with the support of 44 US Senators co-sponsoring this legislation from both sides of the aisle. But there are forces aligned against us and we’re still far from crossing the finish line. I need your help to get there.

That’s why I’m asking 5,000 supporters to sign my new petition, and I’d be honored if you would represent District Of Columbia, friend. Please click here to add your name to tell social media companies to stop putting profits over safety and protect our kids!

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It’s up to all of us to understand this problem and take immediate action to protect our kids. Thanks for adding your voice.

Sincerely,
Dick


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