New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on February 14 that his administration has filed a lawsuit against the parent companies of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube, alleging that their services are harming the mental health of young people and children in America's largest city.
The city of New York, along with plaintiffs including school districts and health care organizations, filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles County branch of the California Superior Court because of the companies' ties to the region, attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
TikTok, Facebook and YouTube sued by New York City for allegedly harming children's mental health. (Photo: Bay City News)
The lawsuit alleges that Meta, Snapchat, ByteDance, and Google (parent company Alphabet) knowingly “designed, developed, manufactured, operated, promoted, distributed, and marketed their platforms to attract, engage, and addict young people with minimal parental supervision.”
The plaintiffs allege that the tech companies violated several New York City laws relating to public nuisance and gross negligence by designing and marketing addictive technology products. According to the city, New York’s school districts and various health and social services have been severely impacted by children suffering negative mental health consequences from using popular social media apps.
“ Over the past decade, we have seen how addictive and overwhelming the online world can be, exposing our children to a never-ending stream of harmful content and fueling a mental health crisis among our nation’s youth,” Eric Adams said in a statement. “Today, we are taking bold action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers to hold these companies accountable for their role in this crisis, and we are continuing our efforts to address this public health hazard .”
Eric Adams also said that this lawsuit and action plan are part of a larger plan that will reshape the lives of New York's youth, city and society for years to come.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the company has industry-leading protections for teens, including parental controls and age-restricted features. A Google representative said the allegations were “simply not true.”
HUYNH DUNG (Source: CNBC)
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