The digital choices shaping our children’s health and the reforms needed to protect their wellbeing

Around the world, childhood is being reprogrammed by digital technologies that shape how young people learn, play, and connect. But children and young people are not experimental subjects, a captive market, or a commodity, which is why we must shape digital environments that protect and support their healthy development.

Digital tools can expand opportunity by supporting learning, communication, and access to health services, especially for children in remote or crisis-affected settings. For many young people, online spaces also offer creativity, community, and belonging, particularly for those facing exclusion offline. File picture

From social media and online gaming to generative AI systems, digital environments are powerful determinants of people’s health. That is especially true of children and young people. Around the world, childhood is being reprogrammed by digital technologies that shape how young people learn, play, and connect.

Our task is not to celebrate or condemn technology. It is to face a simple truth: our digital environment not only promises far-reaching benefits but also poses grave risks for children’s health and development. Our responsibility is to maximize the first while preventing the second. It is not too late to act, but it is too late for merely incremental adjustments.