Turkish Green Crescent (Yeşilay) President Mehmet Dinç underscored the growing urgency of addressing digital addiction, stating that the responsibility for safeguarding children cannot be placed solely on families and must instead be approached as a multistakeholder mandate involving governments, institutions, digital platforms and technology companies.
According to Yeşilay’s official statement on Monday, the organization continues its nationwide efforts to combat five key types of addiction: alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling and internet-related dependencies, while driving public awareness initiatives aimed at strengthening societal resilience.
Dinç delivered these remarks during the HIMSS Eurasia Health Informatics and Technologies Education, Conference and Exhibition held in Antalya, where he presented on “Digital Pediatrics and Next-Generation Health: An Intergenerational Approach.” His presentation assessed the expanding influence of digitalization on the physical and mental well-being of children and adolescents.
Positioning the digital ecosystem as an emerging “determinant of health,” Dinç emphasized that rising digital dependency cannot be mitigated through individual awareness or parental oversight alone. He characterized digital addiction as a “new public health crisis,” pointing to a need for coordinated policy frameworks and institutional reinforcement.
Drawing on recent international developments, Dinç reiterated that digital protection mechanisms require collective action. He called for the introduction of new legal structures designed to safeguard minors, mandatory age-verification and parental-consent protocols for online platforms, independent content-auditing bodies, and intelligent warning and usage-limitation technologies. He also highlighted the importance of independently rating digital games and platforms based on age suitability to ensure consistent safety standards.
Dinç concluded by stressing that combating digital addiction requires a unified approach in which governments, civil society organizations, technology developers and families work together to shape a safer digital environment for the next generation.
