Pope Francis has warned that constant scrolling on social media causes 'brain rot'.
The head of the Catholic Church called for more media literacy and critical thinking, especially among young people, in an address last weekend.
The 88-year-old Pontiff appealed to traditional and social media to concentrate on 'stories about hope' instead of division, so that 'the beauty of communication is not corrupt'.
He said: 'Let's give respect for the highest and noblest part of our humanity back in the middle of our heart, let's fill it with some rock filling and it makes it rot.
“The choices of each of us count, for example, when expanding that” brain rot “caused by the addiction to continuous scrolling on social media.”
It is not the first time that Francis, who has been a leader of the 1.4 billion-Catholic Church since 2013, has made statements about the possible pitfalls of the online world.
In 2014, the Pope – who admitted to be 'a disaster' said when it comes to technology – that the internet and social media are 'a gift from God' when it is wisely used.
Since then, however, he has repeatedly warned about the risk that young people are so attached to their mobile phones, which reduces human relationships to 'mere algorithms'.
Pope Francis has warned that constant scrolling on social media causes 'brain rot'. The head of the Catholic Church called for more media literacy and critical thinking, especially among young people, in an address last weekend
The pope has repeatedly warned the risk that young people are so attached to their mobile phones, which reduces human relationships to 'mere algorithms'.
The pope warned of the dangers of social media when he spoke to 9,000 journalists and writers from 138 countries during an event for the Vatican year of Jubilee last weekend
He also said that smartphones should be banned from the family table and that children are not allowed to have computers in their rooms.
In 2022, Francis Seminarists in Rome warned of the dangers of online pornography, and called it a temptation that 'weakens the priestly heart' and admitted that it was a vice, even by priests and nuns.
And last year he warned of the risks associated with artificial intelligence technology after being the victim of a viral DeepFake image that seemed to show him that he was wearing a single length of white Balenciaga puffer jacket.
The pope warned of the dangers of social media when he spoke to 9,000 journalists and writers from 138 countries at an event for the Vatican year of Jubilee last weekend.
Instead of reading a nine-page speech, Pope Francis chose to give shorter off-the-cuff comments when he said it was late and that attendees were hungry, what applause attracted those who collected.
He addressed the crowd in the Vatican and insisted on the audience: “Let your stories be hope.”
