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U.S. judge weighs school districts’ addiction claims against social media companies

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A U.S. federal judge is considering whether school districts can take their lawsuits against major social media companies to trial over claims that platform designs knowingly addict young users. At a hearing in Oakland, California, attorneys for Meta and other companies argued that federal law shields them from liability, while school districts said they have been forced to spend significant resources addressing student mental health problems linked to social media use.

The companies urged U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to block the cases, citing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally protects platforms from liability over user-generated content. Defense lawyers argued that the districts’ claims rely heavily on such content and should therefore be barred.

Lawyers for the school districts countered that their cases focus not on user content but on platform features they say were deliberately designed to keep children and teenagers engaged for as long as possible. They argued that these design choices have contributed to rising anxiety, depression and cyberbullying among students, creating financial and staffing burdens for schools.

The lawsuits are part of a broader wave of thousands of cases nationwide accusing companies including Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube of fueling a youth mental health crisis. Judge Rogers is weighing whether several test cases should proceed to trial, a decision that could shape future litigation and potential settlements across the country.

New York City sues tech giants for allegedly fueling youth mental health crisis

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New York City has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against Meta, Google, Snap, TikTok, and ByteDance, accusing them of addicting children to social media and worsening a mental health crisis among young users. The 327-page complaint, lodged in Manhattan federal court, seeks damages for gross negligence and public nuisance, alleging that platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok were deliberately engineered to exploit the psychology of youth for profit.

The lawsuit claims the companies’ products have contributed to rising rates of depression, sleep deprivation, and chronic absenteeism among minors. According to the city’s data, more than 77% of New York City high school students spend over three hours daily on screens, and 82% of girls report similar habits.

New York’s health commissioner declared social media a public health hazard earlier this year, citing growing taxpayer burdens to combat mental health challenges in schools. The city also linked compulsive platform use to dangerous behaviors such as “subway surfing,” which has caused at least 16 deaths since 2023.

The case joins over 2,000 similar lawsuits filed nationwide, now consolidated in federal court in Oakland, California. A spokesperson for Google rejected the allegations, saying YouTube is a streaming platform rather than a social network. Other defendants have not yet commented.

The city argues that the companies must be held accountable for the harm caused by their algorithms, which it says have created a costly and deadly youth mental health epidemic.

Australia’s Teen Social Media Ban Praised at UN

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promoted his government’s world-first ban on social media for teens under 16 during an event in New York, calling the move a necessary step to address the “constantly evolving” risks digital platforms pose for children.

The law, which takes effect in December, makes Australia the first country to prohibit those under 16 from creating social media accounts. Instead of blanket age verification, the government wants platforms to use artificial intelligence and behavioral data to estimate user ages.

“It isn’t foolproof, but it is a crucial step in the right direction,” Albanese said at the Protecting Children in the Digital Age event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the measure, saying she was “inspired by Australia’s example” and that Europe would be “watching and learning” as it considers its own policies.

Australia’s center-left government introduced the law citing research linking excessive social media use among young teens to mental health issues, bullying, misinformation, and harmful body image content. The minimum age for accounts will rise from 13 to 16.

Albanese framed the law as both sensible and overdue, saying it would give teens “three more years of being shaped by real-life experience, not algorithms.”