According to reports, the New York City government, along with public school districts and the healthcare system, has officially filed a lawsuit against Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube, accusing these platforms of exacerbating the local youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing addictive products. This is the latest legal action in recent years against youth safety issues on social media platforms in the United States. The lawsuit, jointly initiated by the New York City Department of Education and the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation, alleges that the companies involved intentionally designed their platforms to be highly addictive for children and failed to implement effective safety measures.
The lawsuit emphasizes that these companies "created and exacerbated the youth mental health crisis in New York City," not only harming public health and safety but also disrupting the normal operation of public spaces such as schools. The lawsuit specifically notes that the resources consumed by responding to the crisis have overwhelmed the city government, the education system, and healthcare institutions. The spread of the "Subway Surfing" challenge video is cited as a typical example: several teenagers who imitated the dangerous behavior have died and over 100 have been arrested. An investigation by the New York Police Department revealed that the teenagers involved were directly motivated by imitating videos and the pursuit of likes on social media. Furthermore, teachers are facing severe burnout due to the frequent handling of students' psychological problems influenced by social media.
Meta, Snap, and TikTok have yet to respond to the report. A Google spokesperson dismissed the allegations as "completely untrue," emphasizing that YouTube is a streaming platform, not a social network, and has introduced youth protection tools such as "Supervised Experiences." This case has reignited widespread discussion about the social responsibility of technology companies and the protection of youth digital well-being.
