NYC Files Suit Against Social-Media Companies for Youth Mental-Health Effects

By Ben Glickman

New York City is suing a slate of social-media companies, alleging that they are causing a youth mental-health crisis.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday that the suit against Meta Platforms, YouTube-owner Alphabet, Snap and TikTok-owner ByteDance was looking to force the companies to change their practices and recover the costs associated with addressing youth mental-health issues.

The mayor's office said that New York City spends more than $100 million annually on youth mental-health programs and services.

The suit, filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on Wednesday morning, was brought by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the NYC Department of Education and NYC Health + Hospitals.

Adams's office said the city was joining hundreds of other school districts in filing litigation.

The city alleges that the operators of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube designed their platforms to purposefully manipulate children and teens and make them addicted, the mayor's office said.

The plaintiffs asked the court for relief to fund prevention education and mental-health treatment, plus compensatory and punitive damages. They also are seeking a liability order and an order requiring the defendants to change their practices.

Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 14, 2024 15:35 ET (20:35 GMT)

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