Welcome to Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous! We’re glad you’ve found us, and we hope our community can be as helpful to you as it has been for us. ITAA is a Twelve-Step fellowship of individuals who support each other in recovering from internet and technology addiction. This includes social media addiction, phone addiction, video addiction, television addiction, gaming addiction, news addiction, pornography addiction, dating apps, online research, online shopping, or any other digital activity that becomes compulsive and problematic. 

Regardless of how large or small you feel your problem may be, we encourage you to try attending one of our daily meetings to see whether ITAA can be helpful for you. Our meetings are free and open to anyone who struggles with compulsive internet use. Meetings are safe, secure, and anonymous. ITAA is highly diverse, and our meetings include members of all ages, genders, and ethnicities from around the world. In addition, we also have meetings in French, Spanish, Russian, German, Dutch, Hebrew, Arabic, and Polish. You may also find a local, in-person meeting in your city.

What is news addiction?

News addiction is the compulsive and harmful consumption of articles, news feeds, radio, podcasts, talk shows, and email newsletters. It can involve constant checking of certain news platforms, like The New York Times, the BBC, or Fox News, as well as “doomscrolling” social media feeds. As a subset of internet and technology addiction, news addiction can lead to changes in the brain that over time compromise our ability to focus, prioritize, regulate our mood, and relate to others. 

Those of us who have come to identify as news addicts experienced several common symptoms. Even when we wanted to stop reading the news, we were unable to do so. When we didn’t check the news, we felt anxious or irritable. Our addictive behaviors to news media jeopardized our relationships, educational pursuits, and career opportunities.

When we first noticed these troubling experiences, we began to acknowledge that something wasn’t right, but many of us still questioned whether we really had an addiction. For those of us still wondering, the following questions may help us better identify whether there are signs of news addiction in our lives.

News Addiction Questionnaire:

1. Do I ever decide to quickly check the latest news and then discover that hours have passed?
2. Do I ever swear off or set limits around news, and then break my commitments?
3. Do I have news binges that last all day or late into the night?
4. Do I turn to the news or check notifications whenever I have a free moment?
5. Does my use of news lead me to neglect my personal hygiene, nutritional needs, or physical health?
6. Do I feel isolated, emotionally absent, distracted, or anxious when I’m not up to date on the news?
7. Does my news consumption contribute to conflict or avoidance in personal relationships?
8. Have my news behaviors jeopardized my studies, finances, or career?
9. Do I hide or lie about the amount of time I spend on the news or the kinds of digital content I consume? 
10. Do I feel guilt or shame around my relationship with the news?

Nobody should have to suffer due to their news use. If you’ve answered yes to several of the above questions, we encourage you to consider getting support.

What are the effects of News Addiction?

News addiction can be considered a subset of internet addiction disorder (IAD). There is widespread consensus from both researchers and clinicians that the problematic and compulsive overuse of the internet, digital media, and smart devices has been rising over the past two decades, and that the prevalence of this behavioral addiction is associated with a variety of mental, emotional, physical, interpersonal, and professional problems.

Perhaps most significantly, the dopamine releases triggered by internet and technology addiction have been shown to cause structural changes in the brain very similar to the changes experienced in people with alcohol or drug addictions. A variety of studies have shown that access to television and video games decreases the amount of pain medication needed by hospital patients. Perhaps most tragically of all, one study finds that individuals with this mental illness have much higher rates of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts—roughly three times the average.

These findings are cause for serious concern. While some might minimize the impact of internet and technology addiction in comparison to chemical substance use disorders, the truth is that internet and technology addiction changes our brains in a manner similar to the effects produced by an addiction to alcohol, heroin, fentanyl, or other drugs. 

Who is at risk for News Addiction?

News addiction is a condition that can affect people of all ages, from adolescents and young adults to those later in life. Our community includes people from all background and all over the world. Its negative effects impact not only the addict themselves, but also their loved ones. By damaging our quality of life and contributing to health issues, excessive use of news can impair our lives. Additionally, by contributing to depression and suicidal tendencies, our addiction can be life-threatening.

A Solution for News Addiction

The disease of addiction is not new. Millions of people have found sustainable, long-term freedom from their addictive behaviors through mutual aid support groups modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous. A new study conducted by Stanford public health researchers determined that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous was nearly always found to be more effective than other therapies in achieving continuous abstinence from alcohol addiction. The AA model has been successfully adapted to help people suffering from a variety of addictions, including narcotics, marijuana, nicotine, sex, pornography, and food, among others.

In continuation of this tradition, Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous applies the proven model of AA to help those who are suffering from an addiction to news find long-term freedom from their self-destructive behaviors. Our meetings are free and anonymous, and we welcome anyone who thinks they may benefit from support to visit one of our meetings.

Members Share Their Experiences Finding Recovery in ITAA

At its worst, my news consumption was so out of hand that I was put on a PIP (performance improvement plan) at my work and was passed up for a promotion. I checked the news cycle constantly during my work day and my work performance was terrible because of it. Joining ITAA saved my job and I am grateful every day that I am still employed because of this community.

***

I didn’t realize how much my reading of all the news sources was having a negative effect on my relationship with my friends and family. Negative news is particularly addictive for me. My partner often told me he wanted to talk at dinner, but I had to keep reading news stories because it helped me deal with my stress and my anxiety disorder. Joining ITAA, I finally got a handle on my news addiction and my mental health and my relationships have never been better.

***

In my addiction, I was spending entire days reading news articles and flipping through news channels. Somehow, I believed that my obsessive reading would help save the world. Not only did my news consumption fail to help a single person I read about, it made my life an anxiety-ridden hell. My world became a never-ending stream of bad news: shootings, pandemics, financial crises, and wars. Through ITAA, I’ve been able to let go of my compulsive need to know everything about anything, and I’ve been able to use my new free time to actually get involved in the causes I care about through volunteering.

***

Our program has helped countless people find long-term freedom from internet and technology addiction. For more personal stories, we encourage you to read and listen to the recovery stories on our website.

How to Recover From News Addiction

While there is no permanent or quick cure for news addiction, there are concrete actions we can take to recover from our compulsive behaviors and restore our emotional and mental wellbeing:

1. Attend daily meetings. In addition to a growing number of face-to-face meetings around the world, ITAA has daily online meetings where our global fellowship meets to share experience, strength and hope with each other.
2. Make daily outreach calls. Our news dependence drew us into isolation and self-reliance. As we begin to recover, we learn that we can trust others and be vulnerable. Calling other members outside of meetings helps us stay connected, supported, and sober.
3. Abstain. With the help of other members in recovery, we identify and abstain from the specific addictive behaviors which are causing the greatest difficulties in our lives. We make use of the support available to us in ITAA to remain sober one day at a time.
4. Learn more about the recovery process. Our website has many resources about the nature of our addiction and how we might best chart our recovery journey, navigate withdrawal symptoms, and respond to cravings.
5. Find a sponsor and work the steps. We have benefitted from asking somebody we resonate with to sponsor us and working the Twelve Steps together with them, which is the vital and transformative basis of our long-term recovery from our addiction.
6. Make use of outside help. Many members supplement their recovery with a variety of resources beyond ITAA. While we do not endorse any one treatment option or intervention in particular, an addiction treatment or mental health professional may be able to give advice tailored to your situation.
   
   

Types of Internet Addiction

Each person’s addiction is unique to them. The following are some common compulsive internet and technology behaviors. This list is neither comprehensive nor prescriptive:

• Social media addiction is the addictive use of social media platforms, social networking sites, messaging apps, newsfeeds, discussion forums, chat rooms, and online communities. Addictive social media use can include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Discord, Reddit, Pinterest, and others.
• Streaming addiction is the compulsive and addictive use of any streaming platforms or content. This includes online videos, movies, television, podcasts, and platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Twitch, or TikTok.
• Phone addiction is the compulsive and self-destructive use of smartphone devices and apps, and in contrast to a computer addiction entails the dysfunctional and unhealthy use of any mobile smart devices, such as watches or tablets. This may involve excessive cell phone use or compulsive notification checking, especially at inappropriate times such as late at night or while studying, working, or driving.
• Video game addiction refers to obsessive, unhealthy, or excessive use of video games, as well as any other digital or online games. This includes computer games, console games, phone games, and social media games. This can also include online gambling addiction or other compulsive and irresponsible spending behaviors during gameplay.
• Porn addiction is the addictive consumption of digital erotic content and can also entail other unhealthy digital sexual behaviors. This can include pornographic videos, images, or writing, sexually arousing imagery, cybersex addiction, AI-generated pornography, anonymous chat rooms, and dating apps.
• Information Addiction is an addictive and unhealthy relationship to researching and consuming information. This can include an addiction to scrolling social media feeds, online shopping, online encyclopedias, AI chatbots, and compulsive online research such as product or health research.
  
  

About ITAA

Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous is a Twelve-Step fellowship based on the principles pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous. Our organization is entirely volunteer-based and self-supporting. The only requirement to participate in ITAA is a desire to stop using internet and technology compulsively.

We have no opinions on outside issues, and we neither condemn nor condone any particular technology. We are not affiliated with any political agenda, religious movement, or outside interests. Our single purpose is to abstain from compulsive internet and technology use and to help others find freedom from this addiction. We are a US 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt nonprofit incorporated in the state of Colorado. 

Page last updated on April 19, 2025