Social Media Showdown: New York City Sues Tech Giants Over Youth Mental Health Crisis
New York City has filed a lawsuit against several social media giants, including Facebook, Google, Snapchat, and TikTok, accusing them of fueling addiction and contributing to a mental health crisis among children, according to a report by Reuters.
The 327-page lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that the companies acted with “gross negligence” and engaged in conduct that “endangers public safety.”
The defendants include Meta Platforms (parent company of Facebook and Instagram), Alphabet (owner of Google and YouTube), Snap Inc. (Snapchat), and ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company).
New York City, home to about 8.5 million residents including 1.8 million children and adolescents, has brought the case jointly with its Department of Education and Department of Health.
Responding to the allegations, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said that claims against YouTube are “baseless,” asserting that “YouTube is fundamentally a video streaming platform, not a social media network.”
This lawsuit forms part of a broader wave of approximately 2,050 similar cases filed across the United States, all of which are being coordinated in federal court in Oakland, California.
