New York City on Wednesday sued several major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, accusing them of fueling a youth mental health crisis.
The city, its public schools, and its health and hospital system allege that the companies have sought to maximize engagement among young people at the cost of their mental health.
“Youth are now addicted to Defendants’ platforms in droves, resulting in substantial interference with school district operations and imposing a large burden on cities, school districts and public hospital systems that provide mental health services to youth,” the 327-page lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit names Facebook, Instagram and their parent company Meta; Snap; TikTok and its parent company ByteDance; and YouTube and its parent Google.
The city argues the companies have caused a “public nuisance” in the form of a youth mental health crisis and accuses them of negligence for designing and marketing their platforms to young people “in a way they know is causing serious harm.”
“Defendants’ platforms have triggered depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self harm, and suicidality among thousands of children, including youth in NYC Plaintiffs’ community, to which NYC Plaintiffs must respond,” they wrote. “Defendants have created nothing short of a national crisis.”
New York City previously filed suit against the social media firms in California in February 2024. A spokesperson said the city withdrew the lawsuit to file a similar case in New York, allowing it to join multidistrict federal litigation.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement that the litigation “fundamentally” misunderstands how YouTube works and suggested the allegations are “simply not true.”
“YouTube is a streaming service where people come to watch everything from live sports, to podcasts to their favorite creators, primarily on TV screens, not a social network where people go to catch up with friends,” Castañeda said.
Meta declined to comment. The Hill has reached out to Snap and TikTok for comment.
Social media companies have long faced scrutiny over how their platforms are used by and impact young people. Numerous states, including New York, have filed similar lawsuits against TikTok and Meta, accusing them of harming children’s mental health.
Tech executives have repeatedly been hauled before Congress to face questions about their handling of kids’ online safety.
The CEOs of Meta, Snap, TikTok, the social platform X and Discord appeared before a Senate panel in January 2024, during which Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg turned and apologized to families in the audience who had lost children due to social media-related causes.
