New York City Sues Social Media Platform For Making Children Addicted

JAKARTA - New York filed a new lawsuit accusing social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, Snapchat, and TikTok, of triggering a children's mental crisis by making them addicted.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan's federal court, asked the parent companies Meta, ByteDance, Snap Inc., and Alphabet to compensate for committing serious negligence and causing public disturbances.

In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, accused the defendants of designing their platform to "exploit the psychology and neurophysicology of young people," and prompted compulsive use of profit.

The complaint states 77.3% of high school students in New York City claim to spend three hours a day or more watching including TV, computers, and smartphones, resulting in sleep shortages and chronic absence from schools.

However, to Reuters, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said allegations about YouTube were "not true," as YouTube is a streaming service and not a social network where people meet friends.

"The defendants must be responsible for the losses caused by their actions," said the city. "Currently, the plaintiffs can only ease the annoyance and bear the costs."