Major Investors Urge Apple to Curb Kids’ Gadget Addiction

Two major investors in Apple are urging the tech giant to curb a growing smartphone addiction among children amid increasing concerns about the dangers of screen time and social media on young brains. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System and Jana Partners LLC, based in New York, said in an open letter to Apple on Monday that the company can and should play a “defining role” in “signaling to the industry that paying special attention to the health and development of the next generation is both good business and the right thing to do.” The letter said, “There is a developing consensus around the world including Silicon Valley that the potential long-term consequences of new technologies need to be factored in at the outset, and no company can outsource that responsibility.” In total, the two major investors hold $2 billion in Apple shares.