On February 14th, 2024, Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced plans to sue popular social media companies, alleging that such platforms are the main reason behind America’s mental health crisis amongst teenagers. In conjunction with hundreds of school districts across America, the Adams administration aims to pressure powerful technology corporations to take accountability and address their damage to public health. [1]
Under Adams’ leadership, New York City spends over $100 million on mental health programs and initiatives for young adults and children every year. Through the lawsuit, Adams said, the city will recover this funding through payments made by the companies. At the same time, Adams announced a plan to take action against the damaging effects of social media on younger citizens, which includes goals to provide support to affected individuals and their families, as well as to study long-term negative impacts of social media. [1]
The declaration followed the announcement of New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOMH) Commissioner, Dr. Vasan, that unrestricted access and use of social media is as harmful to public health as tobacco or firearms are. [1]
The five companies targeted in the lawsuit include TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube. [2] The lawsuit claims that these social media companies have designed their services with the intent to manipulate children and teenagers into addiction. These companies allegedly cultivated complex algorithmic instructions that generate posts keeping users on the platform for longer and also promoted ‘obsessive’ use. The lawsuit also argues that young users’ addiction causes significant disruption to everyday school activities. [3]
To those arguing that Adams acknowledged that New York City is “built on innovation and technology”, but asserted that the social media companies encourage addiction and expose young people to harmful online content. [2]
In response, Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook, emphasized that it has been working to protect young users for a decade and will continue to do so. [2] Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Snapchat highlighted the platform’s unconventional design, arguing that Snapchat (unlike other platforms) does not involve obsessive scrolling, rather encourages direct interaction with a camera. However, they also stated that Snapchat had “more work to do”. [4] A spokesperson for TikTok called attention to the company’s numerous safeguards, restricted features, and parental controls that were in place to protect against addiction. [2] A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, defended its current regulations, dismissing the allegations as “simply not true”. [5]
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube currently face hundreds of other lawsuits filed with the same claim. [5] Pressure is mounting from many sides. In January of 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally apologized to families attending a Senate hearing about the effects of social media on young users. [5]
New York Attorney General Letitia James lauded Adams’ efforts. “Our children are facing a mental health crisis fueled by social media companies’ disregard for their safety and wellbeing,” she said, adding that they owed it to America’s youth to hold companies responsible. [1] “This lawsuit,” James said, “builds on the important work we’ve done to advance legislation to rein in the most addictive and dangerous features on social media and the legal action we’ve taken to stop them. It is unacceptable that big tech companies can profit off the harm they are doing to young people, and I want to thank Mayor Adams for joining our effort to protect the next generation of New Yorkers.”
[2] https://abc7ny.com/nyc-social-media-lawsuit-eric-adams/14424441/
[5] New York Mayor sues social media firms for fueling youth mental health crisis | Reuters