WHO calls for legislation against smartphones

Countries should adopt restrictions on the use of smartphones and other hand-held devices in order to lower the harm they cause to young people, a top expert at the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. 

Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, WHO Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems, argued that curbing addiction to communication devices could be viewed as fighting addiction to tobacco products. 

“Maybe we need to think about where it is appropriate to use digital devices, and maybe it’s also time to start thinking about places where certain digital devices should not be used,” she told Politico magazine on the sidelines of the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria on Wednesday. 

The measures could include age limits and “no-go zones,” similar to the bans on smoking in certain areas, she said. 

“As with anything else, you can use these tools well and effectively,” Azzopardi-Muscat noted. “But we have to be careful, because we have a portion of the population who are reporting problematic use.” 

The expert stressed that in certain cases gadgets take a toll on mental health, as well as undermine education and “productivity in the workforce.”

“The evidence needs to be collated systematically, and then we need to see what is likely to work, and what is the approach that we want to take,” Azzopardi-Muscat said, adding that it was “quite clear that we can’t delay taking actions and decisions.”

Officials in different countries have been increasingly worried about the effects of electronic devices on the wellbeing of young people, especially since the use of smartphones and social media is nearly ubiquitous among teenagers. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has vowed to devise measures aimed at combating “excessive screen time and addictive practices” prevalent in the digital age. “My heart bleeds when I read about young people harming themselves or even taking their lives because of online abuse,” she said in July.

Several nations have already proposed measures to limit the access of minors to gadgets, with England and Greece banning mobile phones from schools.