Global action urged over digital media’s harm to young people’s mental health

Coordinated global action is required to address the links between excessive digital media use, declining mental health, poor sleep and physical inactivity among young people, experts have argued.

Technology companies have been accused by researchers of treating public health as "an afterthought" while creating commercial models focused on capturing user attention and gathering data.

In an effort to build a "healthier digital world" for young people, experts are calling on tech firms to release data showing how platform features affect user wellbeing.

The international team emphasised that functionalities such as infinite scroll and autoplay represent "deliberate design choices" rather than a "matter of individual self-control".

Published in the Lancet, the three-paper series includes a major synthesis of reviews examining nine million people under the age of 25.

The research found that high levels of digital media consumption—described as "problematic" use by authors—was associated with a greater risk of mental health difficulties, sleep disruption and reduced exercise.

However, researchers noted that these connections remain "modest".

Professor Ilona Kickbusch, of the Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab) in Switzerland, said: "Use of digital media is now woven into the fabric of childhood and life as a young adult.

"Governments have let technology companies write their own rules, leading to business models built to capture attention and collect data, with health treated as an afterthought.

"The evidence linking problematic digital media use to poorer mental health, sleep and physical activity, although not conclusive, justifies coordinated, global action.

"With the right governance, a healthier digital world for young people is possible, one that allows them to benefit from online opportunities without substantial risk of harm to health."

Louise Holly, of DTH-Lab UK, said: "The associations between problematic digital media use and health harms identified in our review are modest in size and rest on low-certainty evidence that cannot establish cause and effect.

"Meanwhile, the most valuable data on how these platforms actually affect users are hidden within technology companies, limiting independent scrutiny and slowing scientific progress."

The researchers calculate that spending over two hours of daily screen time could be linked globally to around 2.8 million healthy years of life lost to depression, alongside 240,000 lost to obesity each year.

Dr Falk Muller-Riemenschneider, of the National University of Singapore, said the estimates "are intended to be illustrative of the possible scale of harm" and should "not be taken as an accurate measurement of harm".

The series advises that governments should require technology firms to evaluate new products or features for potential harm before release, and to share data with independent researchers.

It also recommends setting up an international panel to monitor potential harms from artificial intelligence among children and young people, alongside a global governance treaty under the World Health Organisation to establish baseline standards and prevent weak regulation.

Professor Barbara Prainsack, of the University of Vienna, said "technology companies are borrowing a playbook well known from tobacco and fossil fuels: manufacture doubt, discredit critics, frame regulation as a threat to freedom".

"A public health approach counters this by looking at what the evidence suggests about harm across the whole population, not just what any single case can tell us.

"Seen that way, good regulation isn’t the enemy of innovation – it’s a driver of good innovation, channelling it toward safety and trust."

Dr Jay Shaw, of the University of Toronto in Canada, also urged further research into the specific design features implemented by tech platforms.

He said: "Most digital platforms are designed by companies to capture attention and collect data, not to protect health: features such as infinite scroll, autoplay and personalised recommendation feeds are deliberate design choices, not simply a matter of individual self-control

"We need much more research into how these specific design choices in digital media influence the way people use the technology, instead of only investigating the impact of how long people spend online."

The release of the series follows one of the largest studies into pediatric screen time, which concluded that higher usage can affect multiple aspects of wellbeing.

That review, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics last month, analysed findings involving more than 2.8 million children across 64 countries.

It indicated that increased screen time for gaming, social media and video streaming can lead to reduced academic performance and language development delays, with children spending more time on screens demonstrating higher "socioemotional" and mental health issues.