New York City sues IT companies over “SNS is harmful to young people’s mental health”

The city of New York in the United States has filed a lawsuit against the IT companies that operate SNS such as TikTok and Instagram, claiming that they are having a negative impact on the mental health of young people.

The lawsuit targets five social networking sites: TikTok, a video-sharing app from China, as well as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, which are operated by American IT companies.

New York City claims that these SNSs increase addiction through mechanisms that require rewards such as "likes" and the provision of advertisements that target individuals, and are having a negative impact on the mental health of young people. .

On top of that, the state of Western California is seeking damages from the IT companies that operate it, claiming that counseling and other measures for young people who have been bullied online cost $100 million every year, or more than 15 billion yen in Japanese yen. The lawsuit was filed in federal district court.

"Young people are experiencing anxiety and despair, and suicide attempts are at unprecedented rates, and there is growing evidence that social media is a contributing factor to the problem," New York City Mayor Adams said on Monday. said.

In the United States, there are growing voices saying that measures to protect minor children who use social media from harmful content are insufficient, and in January, at a hearing in the Senate, a CEO Zuckerberg has apologized.

Regarding the lawsuit, IT companies

According to the Associated Press, a TikTok spokesperson said, "We have industry-leading safety measures, including age restrictions, parental controls, and the ability to automatically limit screen time to 60 minutes for users under 18." I am.

A spokesperson for Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, said: ``We want teenagers to have a safe and age-appropriate online experience, and we are working with over 30 people to support them and their parents.'' "We also employ people who have spent years working on these issues and have spent their careers working with young people."

Furthermore, Snapchat's parent company said that its functions and structure are different from other social networking services, and added, ``While there are many things we should be doing, Snapchat is a place where friends can share a variety of adolescent issues.'' He emphasized the significance of SNS, saying, "It plays a role in connecting and sharing joy in the face of challenges."