New York City Sues Social Media Platforms for ‘Fueling’ Mental Health Crisis

NEW YORK — The city of New York and its health and education departments sued five social media platforms on Wednesday, saying they need to be held accountable for fueling a mental health crisis among youths across the nation.

The announcement of the lawsuit against TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube follows an advisory issued last month by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which identified unfettered access to and use of social media as a public health hazard, akin to tobacco and firearms. 

“Over the past decade, we have seen just how addictive and overwhelming the online world can be, exposing our children to a non-stop stream of harmful content and fueling our national youth mental health crisis,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a written statement. 

“Our city is built on innovation and technology, but many social media platforms end up endangering our children’s mental health, promoting addiction and encouraging unsafe behavior,” he continued. “Today, we’re taking bold action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers to hold these companies accountable for their role in this crisis, and we’re building on our work to address this public health hazard. 

“This lawsuit and action plan are part of a larger reckoning that will shape the lives of our young people, our city and our society for years to come,” Adams said.

In a related move, the mayor also released a social media action plan, “New York City’s Role in the National Crisis of Social Media and Youth Mental Health: Framework for Action,” to provide education and support to young people and families.

The plan also calls for a new study on the long-term impacts of social media on youth.

The lawsuit, which was filed in California Superior Court, alleges the social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to purposefully manipulate and addict children and teens to social media applications.

They do this, the complaint says, by:

• Using algorithms to generate feeds that keep users on the platforms longer and encourage compulsive use.
• Using mechanics akin to gambling in the design of apps, which allow for anticipation and craving for “likes” and “hearts,” and also provides continuous, personalized streams of content and advertisements.
• Manipulating users through reciprocity — a social force, especially powerful among teenagers, that describes how people feel compelled to respond to one positive action with another positive action. 

The lawsuit asserts these actions are a public nuisance affecting schools, public hospitals and communities citywide, and, as a result, that the city has had to expend significant resources to address them.

According to city officials, more than 38% of high school students in the New York City school system reported feeling so sad or hopeless during the past year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities. 

In addition, they said, the rate of hopelessness among New York City high schoolers in 2021 was almost 50% higher for Latino and Black students than for White students, and almost 70% higher for female students than for male students. 

In 2021, 77% of New York City high school students reported spending an average of three or more hours per school day in front of screens — not including time spent on schoolwork.

“Our children are facing a mental health crisis fueled by social media companies’ disregard for their safety and well-being,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a written statement. 

“We owe it to our kids to tackle the damaging effects of social media, and I applaud Mayor Adams for taking this important action today to hold these companies accountable,” she said. 

“This lawsuit 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,” James said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue