Advocacy Alert: Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force Announces Recommendations and Best Practices for Safe Internet Use

August 8, 2024

via SAMHSA

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force, co-led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), released a new report July 22, 2024, with recommendations and best practices for safer social media and online platform use for youth.

The recommendations in the report, Online Health and Safety for Children and Youth: Best Practices for Families and Guidance for Industry, underscore the Administration’s efforts to address the ongoing youth mental health crisis and support the President’s Unity Agenda for the nation. Task Force members also committed to future actions, including providing more resources for kids, teenagers and families, guidance for pediatricians and conducting more research.

Approximately 95% of teenagers, and 40% of children between the ages of eight and 12 years old, use some form of social media. Digital technology use can both benefit young people’s well-being and expose them to significant harm. Social media use has been associated with risks to physical and mental health, including exposure to bullying, online harassment and abuse, discrimination, and child sexual exploitation. And adolescents who seek out information about health and safety topics online risk encountering inaccurate information that can be unhelpful or actively dangerous.

Read the full announcement here.

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