A leading World Health Organization expert has called for smartphones to be regulated like tobacco products.
During the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat told Politico that countries should start regulating smartphone usage as they regulate tobacco products.
WHO Director of Country Health Policies and Systems Natasha Azzopardi Muscat stated that countries should begin regulating smartphones like tobacco products, such as setting age limits, controlling prices, and forming “no-go zones.”
Azzopardi stated, “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.”
Some states in the United States have already created “no-go zones” for children using smartphones.
Democrat Governor of California Gavin Newsom recently signed the “The Phone-Free School Act,” which restricts students from using cellphones in classrooms and campuses.
Per Politico:
Countries should consider regulating digital devices like smartphones in a similar way to tobacco products, to combat social media’s rising negative impact on young people’s mental health, the World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said.
With increasing evidence that problematic gaming and social media behavior is on the rise among adolescents in Europe, countries should take inspiration from other areas of public health where legislation has helped address potentially damaging habits — such as tobacco laws, she said.
Measures including age limits, controlled prices and even no-go zones worked for regulating tobacco, so they could be taken as an example for how to curb damaging use of handheld devices like smartphones, Azzopardi Muscat, director of country health policies and systems at WHO Europe, told POLITICO on the sidelines of the European Health Forum, in Gastein, Austria.
“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,” just as we have banned smoking in certain areas, she said.
The evidence is clear: reducing phone-use in classrooms promote concentration, academic success & social & emotional development.
We’re calling on California schools to act now to restrict smartphone use in classrooms. Let’s do what’s best for our youth.https://t.co/btA5klCFRr
— California Governor (@CAgovernor) August 13, 2024
According to CNBC, China already restricts kids over the age of 8 but under the age of 16 to 1 hour of screen time on their smartphone daily.
China is set to limit the amount of time children spend on their phones:
16 to 18 – 2 hours
8 to 16 – 1 hour
Under 8 – 8 minutes
No internet access on children’s mobile devices from 10pm-6am
Parents will be allowed to opt out of the time limits for their youngsters.
