This quote alludes to the addictive characteristics that social media have in their design and functionality, as described by Edward Tuffle, ethical designer and one of the co-founders of Center for Humane Technology. If we consider the Brazilian context, where citizens spends on average 10 hours daily connected to the internet, as is stated in the annual study Digital Report 2021, 3 hours and 42 minutes are reserved for social media. The excessive use, however, can generate collateral damage to the users’ physical and mental health.

By denoting social media as harmful to one’s health, and in consideration of Brazilian Law 9294, which regulates and restricts advertising of tobacco and other harmful products, in particular Article 3, which requires clear warning clauses on packaging about side effects, this graphic project was born.

The project “Say no to drugs” is an exercise in imagination in a scenario where social networks are compelled to publicize the damage to their user’s health. Inspired by Brazilian cigarette warning ads, 5 digital collages were created, based on a compilation of negative effects listed by the Center for Humane Technology in its Ledger of Harms. The objective of this project is to give visibility to these problems and criticize not only the use itself, but the worrying lack of transparency in Big Tech. There is a need to design more ethical platforms that are more concerned with the users’ than the profit of the most valuable currency in the digital world: attention.