How concerned should people be about the psychological effects of screen time? Balancing technology use with other aspects of daily life seems reasonable, but there is a lot of conflicting advice about where that balance should be.

Much of the discussion – including the World Health Organization’s recent decision to declare “gaming disorder” an “addictive behavior disorder” –is framed around fighting “addiction” to technology. But to me, that resembles a moral panic, giving voice to scary claims based on weak data.