President-elect Donald Trump’s surgeon general choice called for banning social media for all teenagers and young children in a July TV appearance, staking out support for one of the most drastic approaches put forward in the debate over securing kids’ online safety.
Janette Nesheiwat, a family and emergency medicine physician whom Trump selected for the role Friday, has repeatedly assailed social media’s impact on youth in her appearances on Fox News, where she has been a contributor, according to a review by the Tech Brief.
“In my opinion, I think social media should be banned to all teenagers, to all young children, because it’s done nothing but harm,” said Nesheiwat, who if confirmed by the Senate would serve as the nation’s top spokesperson on public health issues.
Nesheiwat, speaking during an interview early on July 14 just hours after a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, linked social media use to feelings of loneliness and hostility among young people. “Social media has had a tremendous negative impact on all aspects of society, especially our younger generations,” she said.
An outright ban goes well beyond the position of the current U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, a prominent figure in the Biden administration’s efforts to improve children’s safety online.
Murthy last year released a widely cited advisory on social media’s potential risks to youth and in June urged Congress to pass new labels alerting users of the dangers platforms might pose. Murthy has also said that 13 is “too early” for children to join such sites as Instagram, TikTok and X and suggested that parents could “band together” to keep teenagers off those apps.
But Murthy has stopped short of calling for a ban against all minors and teens on social media, a concept even the fiercest critics of the platforms have largely declined to take up.
Nesheiwat, a former medical director for urgent care provider CityMD and a Fox contributor since 2020, has been consistent over the years in linking social media use to various harms. After this Tech Brief was published, Fox publicist Courtney Ur said Nesheiwat’s departure from the network was effective on Friday, when Trump announced her as his pick.
In March, Nesheiwat praised a Florida law banning children 13 and under from setting up social media accounts and requiring that 14- and 15-year-olds get permission from their parents to join the sites. She told Fox News the measure would help protect children from “life-threatening” risks online, such as drug sales, sexual predators and cyberbullying.
Other states and some countries such as Australia have considered or passed bills to bar children and young teens from accessing social media, but most like Florida have proposed allowing parents to okay its use by teenagers or set a lower age limit that would not apply to all teens.
In 2022, Nesheiwat said “tackling” social media was key to countering the opioid epidemic. It was not immediately clear whether she has commented on Murthy’s proposal to place labels on social media platforms warning of their potential risks to children.
There was no response to a request for comment sent to Nesheiwat’s personal website. In a statement, Trump transition spokeswoman Taylor Rogers called Nesheiwat “a brilliant doctor who will work alongside President Trump as the next Surgeon General to Make America Healthy Again for all Americans, including our children and younger generations.”
Nesheiwat would not have the power to impose a ban, but as the nation’s most prominent doctor she would have a powerful megaphone to speak out on the issue.
Her remarks are likely to spark backlash from digital rights advocates and tech industry groups, who have blasted efforts to restrict youth access to social media as an attack on free speech.
NetChoice, a tech trade group that counts Meta, Google and Amazon as members, last month sued to block the Florida law on grounds that it violates First Amendment protections. Federal courts have sided with the group in cases over state laws to restrict children’s access to social media. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Murthy’s more-limited proposal to place a surgeon general’s warning on social media apps has also prompted criticism from advocates who say he is racing ahead of the science on social media and youth mental health. Murthy’s 2023 public health advisory noted that “social media has both positive and negative impacts on children and adolescents.”
It’s unclear to what extent Nesheiwat’s comments align with the president-elect’s views.
While Trump has spoken sparingly about children’s online safety, he himself owns a social media company, has re-embraced the X platform under owner Elon Musk and has said he wants to “save TikTok” from a potential federal ban over separate national security concerns.
Truth Social, owned by the Trump Media & Technology Group, says it is “intended for users who are at least 18 years of age” in its terms of service and requires that minors obtain permission or be supervised by a parent or guardian to join the site.
(c) Washington Post