By The Midtown Times Staff | October 8, 2025 | Adapted from Reuters reporting
Technology – New York City has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance, accusing the social media giants of intentionally designing their platforms to hook young users and fuel a growing mental health crisis among children and teens.
The 327-page complaint, filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, names the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok as defendants. The city alleges that these corporations engaged in gross negligence and created a public nuisance by exploiting the “psychology and neurophysiology of youth” to drive compulsive engagement and maximize profits.
New York City, home to 8.48 million residents, including roughly 1.8 million minors, joins a nationwide coalition of more than 2,000 municipalities, school districts, and public agencies pursuing similar legal action in the Oakland, California, federal court system.
According to the lawsuit, the city’s school and healthcare systems have been forced to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to combat the mental health toll of excessive social media use, which officials say has contributed to sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, and even chronic school absences among youth.
The filing cites data showing that over 77% of New York City high school students spend three or more hours daily on screens, with the majority of this time consumed by social media. The city’s health commissioner had already declared social media a public health hazard in early 2024.
Beyond mental health, city officials claim that social media challenges have led to dangerous behaviors such as “subway surfing”, the reckless act of riding on top of or beside moving trains. At least 16 young New Yorkers have died from such stunts since 2023, including two girls aged 12 and 13 just this month.
“Defendants should be held to account for the harms their conduct has inflicted,” the complaint states. “As it stands now, the public and our schools are left to bear the cost.”
In response, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda rejected the claims related to YouTube, arguing that it operates primarily as a streaming service rather than a social network. Other companies named in the suit, Meta, Snap, and ByteDance, have not yet issued formal comments.
The city previously withdrew from separate state-level litigation announced by Mayor Eric Adams in 2024 in order to join the larger federal case, signaling New York’s determination to play a central role in what could become a landmark battle over tech accountability and youth mental health in the United States.
Source: Adapted from Reuters reporting
