Antisocial media: why I decided to cut back on Facebook and Instagram

Only when I tried to quit social networks did I realise how addictive and enveloping they are designed to be. Now I am convinced we are heading for a public health crisis

India bans condom adverts during primetime TV

Move is aimed at protecting children but campaigner warns it could undo decades of progress on sexual health

The fear factor: how should we deal with alarmist health reporting?

We are fed a constant diet of medical scare stories that often seem to contradict each other. Which ones should we believe?

Think reality TV is mindless entertainment? What about the news?

It’s quite possible to get addicted to stuff that seems edifying and intellectual, as well as to brainless nonsense

Nivea’s latest ‘white is right’ advert is the tip of a reprehensible iceberg

No amount of sophisticated branding can hide the fact that the messaging of such ads is as deeply poisonous as ever

Japanese woman ‘dies from overwork’ after logging 159 hours of overtime in a month

Fate of media worker Miwa Sado, 31, piles pressure on authorities to address large number of deaths linked to labour practices

Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? review – thrills, pills and big pharma

This hard-hitting exhibition explores the impact of graphic design in health and pharmaceuticals as companies seek to educate, save lives, and sell their wares

Disabled student told he will fail course because he cannot write shorthand

MSPs condemn exam board after Kyle Gunn, who has cerebral palsy, informed he would be denied journalism qualification

To the Bone confirms there are (almost) no good movies about anorexia

The Netflix drama, which stars Lily Collins, leans on some outdated tropes. But only a handful of novels and films have evoked the reality of the illness, or explained why so many women turn their unhappiness on themselves

Turn off notifications and break free of your online chains

We fret about distraction, yet choose to allow a device in our pocket to beep or buzz whenever someone else decides it should