Digital media health risks warrant global action to protect young people, experts argue
The way digital technologies are currently built and governed creates real risks to health worldwide, alongside genuine benefits, according to a new three-paper series authored by 13 global experts and published in The Lancet. The authors call for coordinated governance of digital systems, with the health and online safety of children and young people made an immediate global policy priority.
A new series of articles published in The Lancet warns that digital media pose significant health risks to young people worldwide, necessitating urgent global action. Authors, comprising 13 experts, argue that digital technologies' current build and governance create real health risks alongside benefits. They urge governments to prioritize children and young people's health and online safety in policy-making.
Digital media, which encompass content, platforms, and devices, have become integral to childhood and young adulthood. Professor Ilona Kickbusch, chair of the series, notes that tech companies dictate their own rules, leading to attention-grabbing business models prioritizing data collection over health. Evidence linking problematic digital media use to mental health, sleep, and physical activity issues is strong, though not conclusive.
The authors suggest coordinated global action could lead to a healthier digital environment for young people. Digital media's design, they argue, often prioritizes attention capture and data collection over health, with features like infinite scroll and personalized recommendations deliberately created. The series calls for technology companies to share health impact data with independent researchers and for governments to create the legal and technical infrastructure to facilitate this.
Despite low-certainty evidence, the authors estimate that exceeding two hours of screen time daily could result in millions of healthy years of life lost to depression and obesity globally. They caution that these estimates should be interpreted carefully and emphasize the need for more research. The authors criticize tech companies' use of a "corporate defense playbook" to delay, weaken, or shape regulation, drawing parallels with historical industries like tobacco and fossil fuels.
They argue that good regulation, when driven by evidence of population-wide harm, can foster innovation while ensuring safety and trust.
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