Health warnings on smartphones to combat digital addiction

Spain could include health warnings on cell phones regarding excessive use of the devices and addiction to applications and social networks, currently considered a public health problem.

The measure is a recommendation from a panel of 50 experts, who suggest “labeling mobile devices with health warnings about the alleged damage to mental health caused by excessive use of technologies.”

The Spanish Government created this committee at the beginning of 2024 with the purpose of analyzing “the impacts that digital platforms and devices have on minors.” In addition, it has the task of designing a plan to combat possible risks.

The experts reached sociological and neuroscientific diagnoses, “in addition to more than one hundred specific measures to safeguard the integrity of children and adolescents” on the Internet.

The document contemplates various aspects, such as the progressive access of children and adolescents to technological devices according to their age. As has happened in other countries, “it establishes a total ban on these devices for children under three years of age.” The recommendation is to start in a limited way with children from six years of age “and the priority use of phones without an Internet connection for people up to 12 years of age. It suggests an increase in the minimum age to open accounts on social networks. The limit would go from 14 to 16 years.”

In addition, the experts analyze the use of digital resources in education, since it is necessary to determine their usefulness in learning according to scientific criteria. In this regard, it suggests the elimination of online educational games with immediate gratification systems; information on safe navigation, parental controls and adequate exposure time by tutors; the design of mechanisms “adapted to all types of families, their socioeconomic levels and their availability”, in addition to subsidies for parent organizations and other related entities to comply with the measure.

With regard to the manufacturers of smartphones and other digital devices, the obligation to include health labels, even on new releases, warning about the risks of excessive use by children and adolescents is established.

M.Pino

Source: wired

(Reference image source: Nick Fancher for Unsplash+)

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