Federal Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Social Media Companies Over Youth Mental Health Crisis

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Big Tech social media firms must face a lawsuit accusing the companies of designing platforms in a way that creates a “youth mental health crisis.”
The multidistrict litigation was brought against Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta), TikTok (owned by ByteDance), Snapchat, and YouTube (owned by Google). It alleged that the defendants target children as a “core market” and design their platforms “to appeal to and addict them,” according to a Nov. 14 court filing.
As children are still developing impulse control and are uniquely susceptible to the harms that come with compulsive social media use, the tech firms created a “youth mental health crisis” through their platforms, the plaintiffs argue….