{"id":7643,"date":"2026-10-05T16:08:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?p=7643"},"modified":"2026-10-05T16:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:08:06","slug":"government-tech-firms-need-to-protect-youth-from-addictive-online-outlets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/government-tech-firms-need-to-protect-youth-from-addictive-online-outlets\/","title":{"rendered":"Government, tech firms need to protect youth from addictive online outlets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7644\" style=\"width:476px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023.jpeg 900w, https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/J-Shaw-Headshot-2023-720x720.jpeg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>\u201cThese platforms that are crafted for engagement and to keep us on them,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/climatehealth.utoronto.ca\/fellow-profile\/shaw-jay\/\">Jay Shaw, Canada Research Chairman, Responsible Health Innovation at the University of Toronto<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>By Murray Sherriffs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canadian digital technology experts and confr\u00e8res from around the world say that the scale of technology use by children and young people is a public health issue that needs immediate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their position is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lanchi\/article\/PIIS2352-4642(19)30062-8\/abstract\">outlined in <em>The Lancet<\/em><\/a> where they say that the responsibility for keeping the young safe from social media and other digital technology is the responsibility of the technology companies and government\u2014not users or their parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Co-author <a href=\"https:\/\/climatehealth.utoronto.ca\/fellow-profile\/shaw-jay\/\">Jay Shaw, Canada Research Chairman, Responsible Health Innovation at the University of Toronto<\/a>, says that efforts by parents and the willpower of young people, aren&#8217;t enough to address the\u201cdigital determinants of health\u201d that are part of their everyday environment; that \u201csociety must think about the design choices and business models of big technology companies that have built these platforms that are crafted for engagement and to keep us on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shaw says that digital technology isn&#8217;t good or bad, but the way that social media companies make money is by keeping people on their platforms for as long as possible to collect data about their likes, what they share and what posts they come back to\u2014information that can be used for advertising opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tech companies have created a &#8221;bottomless scroll. If the page you&#8217;re looking at has no end, it makes it much more difficult to close off that sort of activity.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Targeted algorithms through social media and AI chatbots are designed to promote and recommend tailored content, which keeps young people interacting with the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For many, those properties make it addictive and lead to problematic use, including being unable to stop scrolling, even if it doesn&#8217;t feel good anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depression, anxiety, sleep disruption and limited physical activity are documented harms to young people associated with problematic digital media use, in an \u201cumbrella review\u201d of 2,790 studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The review also found some health benefits\u2014including a feeling of well-being\u2014associated with &#8220;moderate&#8221; digital media use and active video gaming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Murray Sherriffs Canadian digital technology experts and confr\u00e8res from around the world say that the scale of technology use by children and young people is a public health issue that needs immediate action. Their position is outlined in The Lancet where they say that the responsibility for keeping the young safe from social media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government, tech firms need to protect youth from addictive online outlets - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/government-tech-firms-need-to-protect-youth-from-addictive-online-outlets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government, tech firms need to protect youth from addictive online outlets - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Murray Sherriffs Canadian digital technology experts and confr\u00e8res from around the world say that the scale of technology use by children and young people is a public health issue that needs immediate action. 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