Social media firms have made children the subjects of «decades of experimentation.»

The algorithms used by social media platforms are especially harmful to teenage girls. «Not knowing the participants in a multi-year experiment,» warned a senior American public health official.

Vivek Merthy, US Surgeon General, said there were «enough indicators.» 34; that platforms can seriously harm the mental health of young people, especially teenage girls, in a fact sheet on Tuesday.

Mr. Murty urged technology companies to take safety measures for children at critical stages of brain development. . The newsletter notes that technology companies have a vested interest in keeping users online and use tactics that encourage people to engage in addictive behavior.

«Our children have become unwitting participants in a decades-long experiment,» the newsletter says. He suggested platforms' algorithms should focus on maximizing the potential benefits of social media rather than encouraging users to spend more time on it.

The report includes suggestions for what parents, tech companies, and kids and teens can do. to avoid dangerous traps such as a «family media plan» to set limits and time limits on social media use.

When issuing the newsletter, Mr. Murty said the country was in the midst of a «national crisis Youth Mental Health” and expressed concern about the role of social media in fueling the crisis.

< p>Surgeon General's advisory data shows that social media use can cause and perpetuate body image problems, affect eating behavior and sleep quality, and lead to social comparison and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.

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«In early adolescence, when identity and self-esteem are being formed, brain development is particularly susceptible to social pressure, peer opinion and peer comparison,» the bulletin notes.

Teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of adverse mental health outcomes such as symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to the bulletin.

However, it also notes that most young people say that social media helps them feel more accepted, more supported during difficult times, more connected to their friends, and more creative.

It says policymakers should tighten up security standards in a way that maximizes these benefits for children of all ages, while noting that inappropriate and harmful content is still easily and widely available to children.

And he urged technology companies to be transparent about the data showing the impact of their products on children.< /p>

&#34 «The first principle of health — do no harm — is the same standard that we must adhere to on social media platforms.» said Saul Levin, CEO of the American Psychiatric Association.