Digital toxin? US health officials take aim at social media

New York is leading a push by local authorities to address concerns about the mental health impacts of platforms like Instagram. — Image by Freepik

WASHINGTON: New York Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan is on a mission: protect the city's young from the potentially harmful effects of social media – taking his lead from previous public health alerts.

"Take tobacco (or) lead ... We know what to do when we see these sort of toxins in our physical environment. Why can't we use these same rubrics towards this digital toxin?" Vasan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.