Dem senator concerned about tech addiction

Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed concern on Wednesday over young people’s vulnerability to technology, saying there’s growing evidence that technology products are addictive, Axios reported.

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“I think there’s more and more evidence that there are addictive properties,” Warner said at an event focusing on the health effects of technology, according to Axios.

He cited the high rates at which people check their phones and noted that other countries are taking a more proactive approach than the U.S. to controlling kids’ addictions to their devices.

Warner said that fraudsters could potentially target children online using the same tactics that Russian operatives used in their recent disinformation campaign during the presidential elections, Axios reported.

The senator, however, stopped short of calling for Washington to go after the companies whose platforms could be used to target children.

“I’d much rather do this in a collaborative effort with the companies but with the notion that if they don’t acknowledge this, I think public unease is going to dramatically undermine consumer’s trust,” Warner said, according to Axios.