New York City Mayor Eric Adams has taken legal action against the parent companies of major social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube, alleging their role in exacerbating the nationwide crisis of youth mental health. The lawsuit, filed jointly by the mayor’s administration, the New York City Corporation Counsel, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the New York City Department of Education, and numerous school districts, aims to hold these companies accountable for their impact on children’s well-being.
In conjunction with the lawsuit, Mayor Adams unveiled a comprehensive social media action plan titled “New York City’s Role in the National Crisis of Social Media and Youth Mental Health: Framework for Action in order to hold social media companies accountable and address the long term effects of social media on children.
“Our city is built on innovation and technology, but many social media platforms end up endangering our children’s mental health, promoting addiction, and encouraging unsafe behavior. Today, we’re taking bold action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers to hold these companies accountable for their role in this crisis, and we’re building on our work to address this public health hazard,” said Adams. “This lawsuit and action plan are part of a larger reckoning that will shape the lives of our young people, our city, and our society for years to come.”
Dr. Vasan, an advisor to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, likened unrestricted access to social media to a public health hazard, urging parents, caregivers, healthcare providers, educators, and policymakers to take measures to protect young people. Dr. Vasan recommended delaying social media usage until children reach the age of 14, emphasizing the need for regulation and mitigation of the harmful effects of digital environments.
“Social media is a toxin in our digital environment, like lead, air pollution, and nicotine are in our physical one,” said Dr. Vasan. “Environmental toxins require regulation, control, and mitigation, and public health must build on its environmental health legacy to address this modern threat.”
This lawsuit claims that social media companies have designed their platforms to manipulate and addict children and teens. The features which cause this include the creation of algorithms that generate feeds to keep users on the platforms longer, designing the apps to produce a similar feeling to gambling such as making the user crave “likes” and “hearts,” and manipulating users through reciprocity causing users to return to the platform constantly.
In New York City, a troubling trend persists among high school students, with over 38 percent reporting feelings of profound sadness or hopelessness in the past year, leading to disengagement from their usual activities. The disparity in rates of hopelessness is stark, with 2021 data indicating that Latino and Black students experienced rates nearly 50 percent higher than their white counterparts, and female students facing rates nearly 70 percent higher than male students.
Moreover, nationwide, the reliance on social media among 13- to 17-year-olds is concerning, with over one-third admitting to near-constant usage—a habit many acknowledge as excessive. Despite this awareness, a majority of these adolescents express difficulty in scaling back their social media consumption. Additionally, the screen time devoted to non-academic activities among New York City high schoolers is significant, with 77 percent reporting spending three or more hours per school day engaged with screens, excluding educational purposes.
“Frequent social media use doubles children’s risk for depression and anxiety. About half of adolescent users report a negative body image. The negative influence is so great that children are losing their lives trying to complete social media challenges to steal cars or ride atop subways,” said New York State Assembly member Jenifer Rajkumar.
“Our groundbreaking lawsuit is the first step to end this epidemic.”
READ ALSO
Take A Look Inside President Biden’s Day: May 17, 2024
10:00 AM President Biden receives the President’s Daily Brief 11:00 AM President Biden departs the White House en route to the National Museum of African American History 11:45 AM President Biden delivers remarks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture 12:20 PM President Biden arrives at the White House 3:30 PM President…
Keep reading
Take A Look Inside President Biden’s Day: May 16, 2024
10:00 AM President Biden receives the President’s Daily Brief 11:30 AM President Biden meets plaintiffs from the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision and their families at the White House Briefing Schedule 1:30 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Stephen Benjamin, Director of the Office of Public Engagement
Keep reading
Op-Ed By Mayor Adams: Taking Firm Action To Shut Down Illegal Smoke And Cannabis Shops In NYC
When we came to office two years ago, we had a clear vision: protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers. But the increase of unlicensed smoke and cannabis shops across the five boroughs is one of the biggest quality-of-life issues facing our city. That’s why now that we have…
Keep readingTake A Look Inside President Biden’s Day: May 13, 2024
11:10 AM President Biden departs Rehoboth Beach, Delaware en route to Fort Lesley J. McNair 12:15 PM President Biden departs Fort Lesley J. McNair en route to the White House 12:25 PM President Biden arrives at the White House 5:00 PM President Biden and VP Harris deliver remarks at a reception celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander…
Keep reading
Air Serbia Celebrates Its Best-Ever April
As data becomes available, Air Serbia proudly announces that the airline served 303,189 passengers in April this year. This achievement represents the highest April result since 2023. A notable surge in passenger volume, highlighted by a remarkable 7 percent increase compared to April 2023, underscores the airline’s steadfast momentum. Facilitating this surge were 3,271 meticulously…
Keep reading
Take A Look Inside President Biden’s Day: May 10, 2024
PDT 9:50 AM President Biden receives the President’s Daily Brief 12:20 PM President Biden arrives at SLAC Landing Zone 1:15 PM President Biden participates in a campaign reception 3:00 PM President Biden participates in a campaign reception 4:10 PM President Biden departs Bay Area, California en…
Keep reading
These apartments not affordable housing! Please stop advertising this Mayor Adam’s. I been on housing connect for years, I haven’t gotten not one call. I have been looking for a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, Queens, and I can’t find anything. These landlords are horrible and a rip off. It’s like all you are concerned about is the migrants and homeless. I also need a place to call home. I need help. I am a working citizen. This is ridiculous and sad. Help the people here before you do for others. This is becoming depressing and overwhelming for me. We all need help I get it and now. Make it make sense Adam’s. I NEED A BREAK I NEED MY OWN PLACE! Do you know what it feels like to not have a place to call your own,be depressed day in day out, trying not to give up do you know that feeling along with so much more feelings!