The state of New York believes that social networks are a threat to the mental health of people, especially young people.
After social networks were mentioned as a “threat to public health” at the end of January; Now the official website of the state of New York has announced that the state officials have sued Meta, Google, Snapchat, and TikTok for “increasing psychological trauma among young people”. These platforms face accusations of public nuisance and negligence.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, believes that YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok endanger the mental health of children and young people, promote addiction, and encourage them to engage in risky behavior.
Social networks have harmful algorithms that encourage the young generation to gamble using various tactics and deceptively convey to them the feeling that they are doing a positive activity.
The plaintiffs in the case believe that in the last decade, a linear relationship has been established between the use of social media and the mental health of young people; In fact, the more young people use social networks, the more their mental health will decrease.
Google and Meta have said that they always use the solutions of youth safety experts in their applications, and in this regard, they have also provided parental control tools.
Bytedance, the Chinese owner of the TikTok app, points to its systems to protect children’s mental safety, which include age-restriction features, parental control tools, and an automatic 60-minute time limit for users under 18.
Last month, a meeting was held in the US Senate with the presence of the CEOs of most social networks, and Senator Lindsey Graham, referring to the cyber abuse of children, which has also led to death, said: “Your hands are stained with blood.”
New York State is asking tech companies to pay for youth mental health services that reportedly cost more than $100 million a year. New York wants tech giants to stop fooling young people, and federal policymakers to enact new laws to protect their mental health.
This isn’t the only time tech giants have been accused of failing to protect young people’s mental health; Rather, in October 2023, 41 US states sued Meta and said that the company was insensitive to the mental health of young people despite being aware of the addictive algorithm of its social platforms.
TikTok and Google were sued in 2022 for their addictive properties that lead to emotional, physical, and even death.
