New York City Sues Meta, Alphabet, Snap and ByteDance Over Youth Mental Health Harms

Overview

• Filed on October 8 in federal court in Manhattan, the complaint seeks damages under negligence and public nuisance claims.
• City agencies allege the platforms engineered features to exploit youth psychology to maximize engagement and profit.
• NYC cites data showing 77.3% of high school students, including 82.1% of girls, report three or more hours of daily screen time tied to sleep loss and chronic absenteeism.
• The suit links social media to risky behaviors such as subway surfing, noting at least 16 adolescent deaths since 2023, including two girls this month.
• The case joins roughly 2,050 related suits in national litigation centered in Oakland, while Google’s José Castañeda disputes the allegations about YouTube as inaccurate.