Bandung. The Youth 20, also known as Y20, is urging the G20 leaders to establish a multistakeholder digital well-being charter by 2023 in a recently adopted communiqué.

In this always-online world, it is undeniable that technology influences our mental health. Protecting our mental health online becomes all the more important as screentime soars following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite its great importance, the issue of mental health is still not formally discussed in policy forums — a fact that has greatly concerned youth, according to Marcel Satria, Indonesian Y20 delegate for the digital transformation track.

“That is why as youths, we recommend that G20 countries establish a digital well-being charter by 2023. So that our digital technology users can be much more critical, reflective towards our relationship with our devices,” Marcel told the press on the sidelines of the Y20 Summit Closing Ceremony in Bandung on Friday night. 

“This includes how we use social media, study, and work. We need to look at these things holistically,” Marcel added.

The digital well-being charter became one of the key policy proposals that the Y20 adopted in its communiqué. 

The policy recommendation paper urges that the charter should outline principles that prioritize mental health, suicide prevention, child safety, and consumer protection, among others. The charter should also push for the provision of inclusive digital wellbeing services, according to the communiqué.

At the closing ceremony, the Y20 delivered the communiqué to Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy —who received the document on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s behalf— in the hope of having the youth's policy recommendations discussed at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali this November.