Overview

• Associate Professor Rachael Brown and colleagues argue in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy that smartphones now benefit tech companies at the expense of users, fitting evolutionary definitions of parasitism.
• The study highlights endless scrolling, targeted advertising and algorithmic nudges as mechanisms that exploit users’ time, attention and personal data.
• Users experience measurable harms—including disrupted sleep patterns, weakened offline relationships and increased mood disorders—driven by apps optimized for engagement.
• Researchers caution that individual efforts to curb phone use are undermined by tech companies’ vast information advantage and society’s dependence on smartphones for essential tasks.
• The analysis calls for collective measures—such as limits on addictive app features, strict data-collection rules and regulatory models like Australia’s under-age social media ban—to restore a healthier user–device balance.