San Diego County leaders on Thursday announced legal action against the technology companies behind several of the country’s most popular social media apps for what they say are intentionally addictive practices harming California’s youth.
The lawsuit against Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok, Youtube and their parent companies claims the social media apps caused an addiction crisis among California youth by deliberately designing addictive features like endless scrolling and autoplay.
“Communities across the nation are battling an unprecedented mental health crisis among their children, including serious disruption of their education, fueled by Defendants’ creation and promotion of addictive and dangerous social media platforms. California’s youth, and specifically San Diego County’s youth, are now addicted to Defendants’ platforms in large numbers,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit claims the social media companies use addictive techniques, similar to those used in slot machines and those “exploited by the cigarette industry” to intentionally hook young people to their platforms. It also alleges the companies did this despite knowing youth were particularly vulnerable to the addictive effects of their methods.
A recent study from the Pew Research Center found nearly half of teenagers are online almost constantly. Girls are more likely to use Instagram and TikTok while Youtube is more popular with boys, but the numbers are close. Most teens report using YouTube and TikTok daily and admit it would be difficult for them to give up social media, the data showed.
Concerns have been growing about the effects of social media platforms on youth mental health.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory calling attention to the issue, saying more research is needed but that there are “ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm.”
San Diego County’s lawsuit seeks financial damages to fund youth mental health services. It also demands stronger protections for kids and transparency mandates that require social media companies to disclose how their algorithms impact young users.
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