Social Media, AI & Youth Mental Health | 2026 Copenhagen Summit

Why It Matters

The remarks underscore urgent public-health and regulatory implications: governments and platforms need timely policy interventions to protect youth and prevent AI from amplifying social isolation. Failing to act risks repeating past harms at much larger scale as AI becomes embedded in young people’s social lives.

Summary

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told the 2026 Copenhagen Summit that accumulating cross-sectional, longitudinal and randomized evidence confirms social media is harmful to young people’s mental health and that policymakers must act now rather than wait for more data. He described the youth mental-health crisis and loneliness as global phenomena — young people worldwide report the same harms from constant comparison and difficulty disengaging. Murthy warned that societal reliance on low-quality online connections has driven a loneliness epidemic with mortality impacts comparable to smoking and obesity. He urged regulators and institutions to learn from social media’s mistakes and proactively rein in harms from AI, especially chatbots that could substitute for human relationships.

Original Description

A concise presentation of the strongest evidence on social media harms, early AI exposure, and youth mental health, followed by a fireside chat.

Speakers:

Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General

James Steyer, CEO, Common Sense Media