In addition to creating a range of opportunities, the digital transformation introduces various new risks and downsides that can affect peoples’ lives and well-being. These risks occur in each dimension of the OECD Framework for Measuring Well-being and Progress (http://www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-well-being-and-progress.htm), and are often difficult to measure. Since well-being is inherently a multidimensional concept, this section cannot do justice to the wide variety of risks posed or the nuances associated with them. Instead, it highlights a few key risks for which data are available in the areas of work-life balance, governance and social connections, each of which have gathered significant attention in the public debate.
Constant connectedness to the Internet presents a potential risk for workers’ leisure time and mental health. Time spent on e-mail outside work and organisational expectations that workers should be available at all times have been shown to significantly lower people’s satisfaction with their work-life balance (Belkin et al., 2016). Workers with computer-intensive jobs are more likely to experience worries outside the workplace than those whose jobs are not ICT-intensive. This effect exists for both high-skilled and low-skilled workers in most countries. Connected devices can also enable employers to monitor behaviour and performance in new ways. However, the potential productivity benefits from such tools need to be balanced against privacy concerns and the potential for negative effects on employees’ well-being.
Disinformation has gained increasing attention as digital technologies facilitate faster and wider dissemination. While disinformation is neither new nor necessarily illegal, some have raised concerns that it negatively impacts individuals and society more broadly (European Commission, 2018); (United Kingdom House of Commons, 2018); (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, 2018); (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, 2018). While difficult to measure precisely, one indication of the extent of disinformation is self-reported exposure to “completely made-up stories”. This suggests that many individuals across the OECD have been exposed to disinformation, with substantial variation across countries, from nearly 50% of respondents in Turkey to under 10% in Denmark and Germany.
Cyberbullying is a product of newly emerged opportunities for public and private harassment especially, among children and teenagers. Exposure to cyberbullying can lead to severe mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and self-harm (Lindert, 2017). Rates of cyberbullying experiences vary substantially across countries and are not necessarily associated with Internet penetration. It should be noted that online harassment can affect adults as well as children and can be based on many characteristics such as sexual orientation or gender identity. It is therefore imperative to find ways of making the online space safe for people from all parts of society.
