New York City Sues Several Social Networks For “Fueling Youth Mental Health Crisis” | Technology

New York City’s tremendous efforts to curb the epidemic of incidents carried out by people with mental disorders—on the subway, on the streets, in homes; An unstoppable wave after the pandemic – found a new way to perform. This Wednesday, the Big Apple filed a lawsuit against Google’s TikTok, Meta, Snap and YouTube, “for fueling a national youth mental health crisis,” Mayor Eric Adams announced.

A suit filed in T…

New York City’s tremendous efforts to curb the epidemic of incidents carried out by people with mental disorders—on the subway, on the streets, in homes; An unstoppable wave after the pandemic – found a new way to perform. This Wednesday, the Big Apple filed a lawsuit against Google’s TikTok, Meta, Snap and YouTube, “for fueling a national youth mental health crisis,” Mayor Eric Adams announced.

A lawsuit filed in California Superior Court by New York City, the Department of Education and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, on which stress mental health services depend, alleges that the companies deliberately manipulate and make young users addicted. , keeping them attentive to their platform and causing unwanted effects in their behavior which are ultimately detrimental to personality development and coexistence with their environment.

According to New York state law, the charge is based on three counts: negligence, gross negligence and disorderly conduct. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, a change in company policy and monetary relief. According to the lawsuit, the alleged behavioral disorders caused by addiction to the aforementioned platforms have created an additional financial burden and crisis for the city, impacting schools, hospitals and other communities. At a press conference, Adams, a Democrat, described New York’s teenagers as desperate creatures with constant anxiety; In addition to losing social skills and guidelines for coexistence as a result of screen addiction, they are attached to their phones and perform poorly in school.

Dealing with the city’s mental health crisis has been a headache for Mayor Adams since the start of his tenure. He has tried in every possible way, with the strengthening of police patrols in the subway – the center of the phenomenon, serving as a protection for many homeless people, especially affected – or even the mandatory confinement in institutions of people with clear symptoms of imbalance. , has been heavily criticized by groups of NGOs, experts and relatives of affected people. But targeting technology companies is a novelty, especially “in a city built on innovation and technology,” Adams said in a statement. However, the councilor points out, “many social media platforms threaten our children’s mental health, promote addiction and encourage unsafe behavior.”

“We are taking bold action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers to hold these companies accountable for their role in this crisis, and to work to address this public health threat,” a reality particularly plagued by the pandemic’s devastation. “This lawsuit and action plan are part of a broader adjustment that will shape the lives of our youth, our city and our community for years to come.”

New York, however, is not an outpost of technological concern. In the absence of new federal laws protecting children on the Internet, or at least regulations that keep pace with the rapid pace of innovation, lawsuits to hold companies accountable, filed by districts, are becoming more frequent across the country. school networks and a couple of California counties, among others, did it long ago), groups of parents who claim their children have been harmed by social networks, and some prosecutors, such as those from 41 states that jointly condemned Meta . October. One argument on which these demands are based is the clear intention of technology companies to create addiction on purpose, as the tobacco industry once did with the inclusion of additives.

“We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences on the Internet, and we have more than 30 tools and features to help them and their parents. “We’ve been working on these issues for a decade and employ people who have dedicated their careers to keeping young people safe and secure on the Internet,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in response to the lawsuit, whose terms he considers unfounded. “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we have created services and policies to provide youth with age-appropriate experiences and parents with strong controls.”

“TikTok has industry-leading safeguards to support teen well-being, including age-restricted features, parental controls, a 60-minute automatic time limit for users under 18, and other safeguards,” a company spokesperson said. , as cited by the Axios portal.

The recent appearance at the Capitol of the heads of technology companies Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord, the latest in a long list, is the most immediate example for New York litigation, but not the only one. At the hearing, members of Congress grilled executives for four hours about children’s online safety, but new bills continue while lawsuits pose a growing and tangible threat to companies’ business models. Instagram, the meta’s social network, was once found responsible for harming the mental health of teenagers by proposing impossible beauty models. Since then, the commitment to artificial intelligence—curiously not addressed at the January 31 congressional hearing, because a special session was devoted to it—has multiplied in such a way that its own momentum can overwhelm any effort. Regulate the offering of platforms to minors and adolescents.

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