Smartphones and social media have triggered a mental health crisis, fueling anxiety, sleep loss, and polarization. We need a Royal Commission to investigate these harms and drive real change.
Thanks to the impacts of social media and the ubiquity of cellphones and other digital devices connecting us, our world has become almost unrecognizable from that of our parents鈥攍et alone our grandparents.
The rise of incivility in social discourse as amplified by rage baiting social media algorithms is well documented.
Studies consistently link heavy social media use to higher rates of anxiety, depression and loneliness, particularly in adolescents. The comparison culture social media fosters鈥攎easuring one鈥檚 life against curated highlight reels鈥揹rives low self-esteem and body image issues, especially among teenage girls. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt鈥檚 research has been influential in arguing that the post-2012 smartphone era correlates strongly with a sharp rise in youth mental health crises across the Western world.
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