--- title: "WHO Highlights the Health Impacts of Digital Environments at the Lost Screen Memorial" slug: who-lost-screen-memorial-digital-health-impacts category: health category_label: "Health" author: "BrainWavePost Staff" date: 2026-05-21 tags: ["who", "mental health", "online safety", "children", "digital wellbeing"] read_time_minutes: 11 canonical_url: https://brainwavepost.com/article/who-lost-screen-memorial-digital-health-impacts source: BrainWavePost --- # WHO Highlights the Health Impacts of Digital Environments at the Lost Screen Memorial *Health · 2026-05-21 · BrainWavePost Staff · 11 min read* > Ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, WHO and Archewell Philanthropies unveiled the Lost Screen Memorial — 50 illuminated lock screens of children whose lives were lost in circumstances tied to online harm — to spotlight the mental health toll of unsafe digital environments and call for stronger protections for young people. On 17 May 2026, on the eve of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted a side event to inaugurate The Lost Screen Memorial, an installation created with Archewell Philanthropies that displays 50 illuminated lightboxes designed to look like phone lock screens of children who, according to their families, lost their lives in circumstances linked to online harm. [1][2] Speaking at the side event, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the names behind the lightboxes 'are not statistics. They're children,' and framed the memorial as a call to treat the online environment as a determinant of children's health, alongside the physical and social environments WHO has long worked on. [1] ## What the memorial is The Lost Screen Memorial is described by its organisers as an art installation of large, illuminated smartphone-style lock screens honouring children whose families say their deaths were connected to social-media-related harms, including cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, drug sales on platforms and exposure to harmful content. [2][3] It was first unveiled in New York City in 2025 by The Archewell Foundation's Parents' Network and travelled to Geneva for the World Health Assembly week at the invitation of WHO, where it was set up on Place des Nations outside the UN's Palais des Nations. [2][3][4] ## Why WHO is engaging on digital environments WHO has been building a formal evidence base on how digital environments shape young people's mental health. In 2024, the WHO Regional Office for Europe reported that problematic social-media use among adolescents rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022, and that 12% of adolescents were at risk of problematic gaming, calling for 'healthier online habits' and stronger policy action. [5] Building on that work, WHO Europe published a 2025 policy brief, 'Addressing the digital determinants of young people's mental health and well-being,' and a 2026 position statement, 'Making the WHO European Region the healthiest online environment for children,' which explicitly frame online platforms as a determinant of health that governments can — and should — regulate. [6][7] ## The health harms WHO is pointing to Across these documents, WHO identifies a recurring set of online harms with measurable mental-health consequences for children and adolescents: - Cyberbullying and online harassment, linked by WHO to higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation among adolescents. [5][7] - Online child sexual abuse, grooming and image-based abuse, addressed in WHO's global report 'What works to prevent online violence against children.' [8] - Problematic social-media and gaming use, defined in WHO Europe's HBSC study as addiction-like patterns that impair sleep, schoolwork and relationships. [5] - Exposure to harmful content, including content promoting self-harm, eating disorders or unregulated sales of drugs and other dangerous products. [6][7] ## What WHO is asking governments and platforms to do WHO's 2026 European position statement sets out concrete policy directions for Member States and digital platforms, including age-appropriate design, default privacy and safety settings for minors, restrictions on engagement-maximising features for children, transparency on algorithmic systems, and stronger redress mechanisms for victims of online harm. [7] At the Lost Screen Memorial side event, Dr Tedros echoed these themes, arguing that protecting children online is 'a public health priority' and that the design choices of digital platforms — not just individual user behaviour — must be part of the policy response. [1] > **Why a memorial at the World Health Assembly?** _(info)_ > > The 79th World Health Assembly, WHO's annual governing meeting of Member States, took place in Geneva from 18 May 2026. Holding the memorial on the eve of the Assembly was intended to put online harms to children directly in front of the world's health ministers as they set the global health agenda. [1][4] ## Voices from the inauguration The installation was inaugurated jointly by WHO and Archewell Philanthropies. Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, who co-founded Archewell, spoke alongside Dr Tedros and urged global health leaders to act on systems she described as 'designed to capture attention at any cost,' calling on governments and companies to 'demand better' for children online. [1][4][9] Family members from the Archewell Foundation Parents' Network — parents who say they lost children to suicide, exploitation or drug-related harms linked to social media — were present and are the source of the lock-screen images used in the installation. [2][3] ## What we still don't know WHO itself is careful to note that the science on screen time, social media and youth mental health is still evolving. Its 2025 evidence review describes the relationship as 'complex and context-dependent,' shaped by what young people do online, who they interact with, and how platforms are designed — rather than by raw hours of use alone. [6] The Lost Screen Memorial does not aim to settle that scientific debate. It is, in WHO's framing, a public-health intervention of a different kind: making the human cost of online harm visible to the policymakers who can change the rules. [1][7] ## References - [1] World Health Organization — 'WHO Director-General's remarks at the WHA side event for the Lost Screen Memorial – 17 May 2026': https://www.who.int/news-room/speeches/item/who-director-general-s-remarks-at-the-wha-side-event-for-the-lost-screen-memorial---17-may-2026 - [2] The Lost Screen Memorial — The Archewell Foundation Parents' Network: https://lostscreenmemorial.org/ - [3] The Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — 'The Lost Screen Memorial': https://sussex.com/the-lost-screen-memorial/ - [4] The Standard (PA Wire) — 'Meghan urges global health leaders to act to keep children safe online,' 18 May 2026: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/meghan-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-sussex-duchess-children-b1282650.html - [5] WHO Regional Office for Europe — 'Teens, screens and mental health,' 25 September 2024: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/25-09-2024-teens--screens-and-mental-health - [6] WHO Regional Office for Europe — 'Addressing the digital determinants of young people's mental health and well-being' (2025 evidence review and policy brief): https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2025-12187-51959-79851 - [7] WHO Regional Office for Europe — 'Making the WHO European Region the healthiest online environment for children: position statement' (2026): https://www.who.int/europe/publications/making-the-who-european-region-the-healthiest-online-environment-for-children-position-statement - [8] World Health Organization — 'What works to prevent online violence against children?': https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240062061 - [9] Reuters Connect — 'Lost Screen Memorial of children whose parents say they lost their lives due to social media' (photo/coverage record): https://www.reutersconnect.com/item/lost-screen-memorial-of-children-whos-parnets-say-they-lost-their-lives-due-to-social-media/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjY6bmV3c21sX1JDMjZMSkFNNFpaUw --- _Canonical article: [https://brainwavepost.com/article/who-lost-screen-memorial-digital-health-impacts](https://brainwavepost.com/article/who-lost-screen-memorial-digital-health-impacts) — © BrainWavePost. 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