US Surgeon General says social media needs warning labels

Are TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and the rest of social media as bad as cigarettes?                               [The Morning After]( It's Wednesday, June 19, 2024. The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, says social media should come [with warning labels]( writing in The New York Times that social media is an “important contributor” to the teen mental health crisis. Last year, he issued an advisory making similar arguments, saying social media posed a “profound risk” to teen mental health. In his latest op-ed, Murthy cited a study showing higher social media use was associated with an increased risk of anxiety and depression, as well as a survey where almost half of teens reported “social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.” (Yes, please ignore the chipper young adults in the image above, laughing at their iPhone 7. It was a different time.) He also noted warning labels alone wouldn’t make social media safer — I mean, people still smoke — but would help better inform everyone. “There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place… there are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world.” He’ll need support from Congress to make this happen, however. Cooperation in US politics has not been common this decade. However, there has been recent bipartisan support to curtail tech companies' powers — look at the TikTok saga. — Mat Smith Get this delivered daily, direct to your inbox. [Subscribe right here!]( The biggest stories you might have missed [The next Nintendo Direct takes place later today]( [McDonald’s pauses AI-powered drive-thru voice orders]( [Neopets is back]( [The US has sued Adobe over its awful subscription rules]( [TikTok’s genAI avatars are based on real people]( Making them even creepier. [[TMA] TikTok]( Oh, speak of the devil. TikTok has announced its new AI-created digital avatars for both creators and brands on the app. According to TikTok, the AI personas should make it easier for creators and businesses to create branded content with a “human feel” — even if that human feel is an uncomfortable stranger staring at you from a bus stop across the road. There are two kinds of avatars: stock avatars based on paid actors and custom avatars based on existing creators and brand spokespeople. As Karissa Bell puts it, they give M3GAN vibes. At least, the company’s own rules require this kind of content to have prominent disclosures. [Continue reading.]( [Logitech made a 3D stylus for Meta Quest headsets]( The $130 MX Ink will arrive in September. Logitech has unveiled a mixed reality stylus for Meta Quest headsets — but not the Quest Pro. The MX Ink helps users craft more precise designs and illustrations — although I’m not sure how many pro-level artists are using consumer-grade VR headsets… But hey, maybe it will give [Sony some competition](. [Continue reading.]( [Nikon’s Z6 III is the first mirrorless camera with a ‘partially stacked’ sensor]( Expect high shooting speeds. [[TMA] Nikon]( Nikon’s $2,500 Z6 III has the world’s first “partially stacked” 24.5-megapixel (MP) sensor. That allows for high-speed shooting in features like RAW video and faster autofocus and both photo and video modes. In short, better than the several-years-old Z6 II. So, er, what is a partially stacked sensor? They’re rare (and expensive), having so far only appeared on Sony’s A1 and Nikon’s own Z8 and Z9. Circuits cover the entire sensor, so it can read pixel data far more quickly than regular CMOS sensors. On the Z6 II, circuits cover only the top and bottom parts of the sensor. So it’s faster than normal CMOS sensors, but cheaper than stacked ones. [Continue reading.]( The Morning After is a daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't [subscribe](. Craving even more? [Like us on Facebook]( or [follow us on Twitter](. Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? [Send us a note.]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you opted in at [engadget.com](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe]( from this newsletter. Copyright © 2024 Yahoo. All rights reserved.