The City of New York, the New York Department of Education, and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation filed a lawsuit against the tech companies that operate Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube on February 14, 2024. The lawsuit alleges that the companies’ services are damaging the mental health of New York City’s young adults and children.
Specifically, New York City alleges that the marketing and design of the tech companies’ products violates three New York laws: negligence, gross negligence, and public nuisance. The plaintiffs seek a jury trial, financial damages, and changes to the companies’ behavior.
Moreover, they allege that the companies’ current behavior has created financial burdens for the city, its schools, and its hospitals.
A spokesperson for Google, YouTube’s parent company, denied the allegations and stated that Google has collaborated with youth, mental health, and parenting experts. Spokespeople for TikTok, Meta, and Snap Inc. similarly cited efforts to protect the safety of teenagers and children on their platforms.
A recent survey has found that teenagers still regularly use social media despite the concerns about its effect on their mental health and safety. Additionally, a Pew Research Institute study found that nearly one in five teenagers use YouTube and TikTok “almost constantly.” New York Mayor Eric Adams noted that online spaces such as these are “addictive” and “overwhelming” for children and teenagers.
Similar to New York’s lawsuit, lawsuits against tech companies are becoming more prevalent in the United States in the absence of federal laws protecting minors online. Some of these suits include theories that social media companies knowingly make defective products harming children or causing addiction. A 2022 lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleged that products made by Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Alphabet were
“defective because they were designed to maximize screentime.”
Outside of litigation, federal lawmakers are pushing bipartisan bills, such as the Kids Online Safety Act (“KOSA”), in an attempt to protect children and teenagers from harm online and on social media.
President Biden weighed in during his State of the Union address when he expressed that legislating “damaging technologies” and their effects on kids was important.
However, some critics are concerned that a bill such as KOSA is overreaching and will limit kids’ access to helpful resources as well.
A lawsuit by a city and school district of New York’s size could possibly empower others to take similar action in the future. As Mayor Adams describes it, the youth mental health crisis is a “national” issue. An abundance of similar suits could be costly to the social media companies’ business models, while implementing federal regulations is likely to be costly as well. Whether or not New York’s lawsuit succeeds, it is clear that limiting youth social media use is becoming a prominent legal question.
CITATIONS
• Anderson, Monica, et al. “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 11 Dec. 2023.
• Feiner, Lauren. “Lawmakers Show Rare Bipartisan Unity in Pursuing Protections for Kids Online.” CNBC, 15 Feb. 2023.
• Gold, Ashley. New York City sues social media companies for negligence, public nuisance, Axios, 14 Feb. 2024.
• New York City files a lawsuit saying social media is fueling a youth mental health crisis, Associated Press, 14 Feb. 2024.
• Pew Survey: YouTube Tops Teens’ Social-Media Diet, with Roughly a Sixth Using It Almost Constantly, AP News, 12 Dec. 2023.
• Vanian, Jonathan. Tiktok, Facebook and YouTube Sued by New York City for Alleged Harm to Kids’ Mental Health, CNBC, 14 Feb. 2024.
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