AI Insight
A three-paper series published in The Lancet by 13 global experts examines how digital technologies pose health risks to populations worldwide, particularly children and young people, despite also offering benefits. The authors emphasize that current design and governance structures of digital systems contribute to these health hazards. They advocate for coordinated international governance that prioritizes the health and online safety of youth as an urgent global policy matter.
Why it matters
This research highlights the need for systemic changes in how digital platforms are regulated and designed to protect vulnerable populations. The call for global policy coordination suggests that fragmented national approaches may be insufficient to address the widespread health impacts of digital media on young people.
Understand the Science
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.
Source: Digital media health risks warrant global action to protect young people, experts argue