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Social Media Platforms Face New Mental Health Ratings
10 Feb
Summary
- Major platforms will be graded on adolescent mental health protection.
- A new rating system assesses policies, governance, and content oversight.
- Scores range from 'use carefully' to 'does not meet standards'.
A new external grading process, Safe Online Standards (SOS), will now evaluate major social media platforms on their protection of adolescent mental health. Companies including Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap are voluntarily submitting to this assessment. The SOS initiative, led by Dr. Dan Reidenberg of the National Council for Suicide Prevention, comprises about two dozen standards covering platform policy, governance, transparency, and content oversight.
Platforms will receive a safety rating, with the highest being 'use carefully,' indicated by a blue badge. This rating signifies accessible reporting tools, clear safety functions for parents, and features that help reduce exposure to harmful content. Lower ratings include 'partial protection' and 'does not meet standards,' depending on the availability and effectiveness of safety tools and content moderation.
This effort comes as social media platforms face increased scrutiny over their impact on young users' mental well-being. Meta, in particular, has faced allegations regarding its internal research on product effects on mental health and is now confronting lawsuits over child harm from addictive products. Other companies like Roblox and Discord are also addressing concerns related to harmful content and age verification on their platforms.
