Technology can be a wonderful ally, yet regulating digital innovation stands as a fundamental human challenge if society wants to stay free. It is as pressing as addressing climate change, demanding a citizen-wide discussion free from factional divides. There is a call for active public engagement that presses policymakers to place this issue at the top of the political agenda.
The signatories do not seek to ban or slow down technology. Their aim is to ensure tech serves people, not the other way around
About a hundred prominent figures from business, journalism, academia, psychology, education, and culture have signed the OFF Manifesto, officially unveiled in Madrid. It lays out an intention to urge political authorities to adopt measures that ensure people control technology rather than letting it control people.
The goal is not to prohibit technology but to promote its responsible use and to establish democratic oversight of today’s tech deployment. Without that oversight, the authors warn, civilization could face serious risks.
Disinformation and the indiscriminate collection of personal data are cited among the risks. The manifesto emphasizes mental health, particularly among youth. It notes that in Spain, 88 percent of thirteen-year-olds own a mobile phone. The emotional and psychological crisis described is framed as a clear consequence of a digitally saturated and poorly managed environment.
“The fact that a girl has a mobile phone at age twelve raises a 20 percent higher chance of developing depression in adulthood,” states a notable claim highlighted by the document.
In a survey conducted with 4th year high school students in Barcelona, findings show one in three youths use their mobile for more than three hours daily; 41.3 percent admit to neglecting duties to stay online at times, and 45.4 percent report spending more time online than with friends.
Among the signatories are groups such as Adolescència Lliure de Mòbils, which advocates delaying first access to a mobile until age 16, psychologist Maribel Bodego, the director of the CCCB Judit Carrera, psychology and sociology professor Carmen Elboj, former Amnesty International president Silvia Escobar, and businessman and author Daniel Hidalgo, who wrote Anestesiados, about life under tech dominance.
The manifesto does not oppose development alone. It calls for curbing adverse effects, such as misinformation, data exploitation in democratic nations, increased control by authoritarian regimes, and cyberattacks on essential services like hospitals and power grids. It also highlights a decline in attention spans and general mental health, especially among younger people.
In schools
Within education, the signatories urge a moratorium on indiscriminate technology introduction in schools and stress adapting device use to the age of students. They also advocate for family-focused courses and workshops to raise awareness of the risks facing young users.
The manifesto is supported by studies linking problematic tech use to mental health concerns. A Sapien Labs report, a nonprofit research group founded in 2016 to study the human brain, suggests that earlier access to a first smartphone is associated with a higher likelihood of fragile mental health. It notes that a twelve-year-old girl owning a phone is linked to a higher risk of adult depression.
Proposals include empowering an off switch for devices, ensuring essential public services remain accessible without digital means, and compelling tech companies to disclose data shared with other firms. The signatories also call for ethical checks on the algorithms used by private firms and governments.