Tech companies urged to protect young from dangers of excessive screen time

Thinktank wants firms to establish guidelines for recommended daily use of their technology

Technology firms risk repeating the mistakes of tobacco companies if they fail to take responsibility for the threats that their products and services pose to young people's mental health.

This provocative claim comes from a thinktank which wants the firms to establish guidelines for the recommended daily use of their technology. It is made in Screened Out, a report to be published on Thursday by the Strategic Society Centre (SSC), which says smartphone manufacturers and online social networking sites need to consider how young people are affected by their businesses - and potentially redesign their products and services accordingly.