Ghaziabad teens' deaths highlight the real dangers of 'digital obsession'

Indians spent over a trillion hours on their phones in 2024, averaging nearly five hours a day.

Just days after the release of the Economic Survey 2025–26, which highlighted concerns over the growing impact of digital addiction, three teenage girls died after falling from a high-rise building in Ghaziabad. The incident, allegedly a case of suicide, is under investigation.

According to preliminary accounts, the girls were reportedly distressed after their father had taken away their mobile phones about 15 days earlier, and there are claims of an intense interest in Korean popular culture. The girls had reportedly not attended school since the Covid-19 pandemic, and had limited interaction with other children in their housing society.

Incidentally, the Economic Survey noted that digital addiction “erodes social capital through weaker peer networks, lower community participation, and diminished offline skills.”

The survey further states that “while access fuels learning, jobs, and civic participation, compulsive and high-intensity use can impose real economic and social costs, ranging from lost study hours and reduced productivity to healthcare burdens and financial losses resulting from risky online behaviours.”

Near universal use of smartphones — nearly 35 crore Indians used social media in 2024, according to the survey — and spending disproportionately large amounts of time staring at mobile screens is the primary reason.

A 2025 Ernst & Young report found that Indians spent over a trillion hours on their phones in 2024, averaging nearly five hours a day. Only Indonesians and Brazilians spent more, at 6.3 and 5.3 hours per day, respectively. The report further notes that most of the five hours per day is spent on social media, entertainment, music, and casual games.