Anti-Screen Activists Hold 2-Hour Gatherings in Brooklyn and Netherlands as Backlash Spreads
Updated
Updated · The Star Online · May 26
Anti-Screen Activists Hold 2-Hour Gatherings in Brooklyn and Netherlands as Backlash Spreads
1 articles · Updated · The Star Online · May 26
More than a dozen people in Brooklyn and nearly 20 in another New York gathering put away their phones for sessions of reading, drawing and conversation, while the Offline Club staged a similar meetup in the Netherlands.
Activists say the events push back against apps and devices they view as increasingly extractive, arguing Big Tech’s built-in screen-time tools and grayscale modes do not go far enough.
The movement now includes several dozen “attention activism” groups across the United States and Canada, with offshoots also reported in Spain, Italy, Croatia, France and England.
At Oberlin College, a co-op ran without emails or spreadsheets in January and later banned technology in shared spaces, with participants reporting relief, more conversation and stronger social connection.
Authors and organizers behind the “attention liberation movement” say the goal is to “rewild” attention and build a broader cultural revolt against the screen-saturated habits that spread with the smartphone era.
What new economies could thrive by protecting our attention instead of harvesting it?
Is technology permanently rewiring our brains, or can we simply learn to be bored again?
As courts punish Big Tech, is the fight for our focus a legal battle, not a personal one?