U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling on Congress to require warning labels on social media, saying emergency action is needed as rampant use of the platforms has ignited a mental health crisis among adolescents.

It is time to require a surgeon generals warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents, he said in an opinion piece published in The New York Times on Monday.

Such labels, like the ones mandated for cigarettes and other tobacco products, would regularly inform parents and adolescent users that social media has not been proved safe, which could improve behavior patterns, he said.