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A lawsuit filed by Seattle Public Schools alleges that social media is one of the leading causes of the “youth mental health crisis” and accuses social media companies of being “exploited.”[ing] Alleging that social media companies have violated state pollution laws, the lawsuit seeks monetary damages and other remedies from the owners of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
“Defendants took advantage of the fragile brains of young people and hooked tens of millions of students across the country into a positive feedback loop of the overuse and abuse of Defendants’ social media platforms,” the lawsuit said. “Worse still, content curated by defendants for youth is too often harmful and exploitative (e.g., advertising the “Corpse Bride” diet, eating 300 calories a day, self-harming, etc.). ”
The complaint was filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“Most young people spend hours a day primarily on five platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook,” Seattle Public Schools said in a statement Friday about the lawsuit. I was. “Research shows that excessive and problematic use of social media is detrimental to the mental, behavioral and emotional health of young people, leading to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders and suicide. It’s related to the rate of increase.”
Defendants include Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram. Snapchat owner snaps. TikTok owner ByteDance; Google and YouTube owner Alphabet;
Social networks profit from younger users, lawsuit says
Seattle Public Schools said corporate “cheating is a major contributor to the youth mental health crisis, with higher and higher rates of young people suffering from anxiety, depression, thoughts of self-harm, and suicidal thoughts.” It is characterized by
“Defendants exploit the neurophysiology of the brain’s reward system to intentionally design, modify, and manipulate their platforms to keep users coming back and staying on their respective platforms, thereby harassing users, We have maximized the time that young people in particular spend on the platform, whenever possible.” “Young people are particularly susceptible to the defendant’s manipulative behavior because their brains are not fully developed, and as a result they have the same emotional maturity, impulse control, and psychological resilience as other more mature users.” missing.”
Social networks benefit from younger users and are “blatantly” complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act’s requirement to obtain “verifiable parental consent” before collecting and using information about children under the age of 13. has been violated,” the lawsuit alleges. Defendants “turned a blind eye to younger users on the platform by forcing users to self-report their age” and “deliberately marketed the platform to youth and adolescents,” the complaint states.
According to the Seattle school complaint, the rate of children suffering from mental health problems “has risen steadily since 2010, and by 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death among young people.” Children spending more time on social networks during the pandemic “will only exacerbate this crisis,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, research shows a “clear link between youth social media use and eating disorders,” and that “the more time young girls spend on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, the more You are more likely to develop an eating disorder.”
