The Super Connected Petition aims to guarantee that those who cannot, or do not wish to use digital technology, can still access the services they need. At the heart of this is a call for more balance in education and healthcare, where digital-first policies are impacting both children and vulnerable citizens.
To amplify that call, singer and activist Tim Arnold has assembled stars from the entertainment world, alongside doctors and teachers from across the UK in a new campaign video. Watch here.
Built in response to what Arnold describes as “the new digital norm”—where digital options are increasingly replacing real-world choices in everyday life —the petition asks Parliament to enshrine non-digital access in law to protect the right to choose, as society becomes ever more dependent on digital infrastructure.
“We all love technology,” says Arnold, “but it should be a choice, not a requirement. When it comes to the digital dial on our lives, unregulated tech companies are turning it all the way up to 100. It should be us who have their hands on that dial, not tech companies. Without non-digital alternatives, we’ll lose the ability to make that choice—and future generations will grow up thinking they never even had one”
The petition has evolved out of Arnold’s long-standing nationally acclaimed work Super Connected, a film, album and rock opera about the suffering he witnessed among families experiencing digital dependency. Sky News described Arnold as “the man behind the drama that predicted the smartphone crisis.”
Sir Stephen Fry, speaking at one of Arnold’s Super Connected events in April, said: “When the Industrial Revolution began, factories filled the air with pollution. Thousands died, and by 1956, The Clean Air Act was passed. In today’s digital revolution, poison is also pumped out - not into the air, but into the cultural air. The freedom of children to breathe in the good air of our culture is more important than the freedom of these companies to pump out poison.”
Signatures will be collected at the Super Connected live events across the UK, where screenings of the film and live performances are being used to raise awareness and support for the petition, starting at The Cockpit Theatre in London on Friday, 6th June. Sign the petition