A deluge of local, state, and federal lawsuits, both individually and collectively, allege that social media has been designed to addict users to their platforms. In these lawsuits, companies specifically allege that social media is designed to be addictive. The way critics portray it, social media invariably harms the mental and emotional well-being of young people.
Late last year, 42 state attorneys general filed a joint lawsuit against Meta arguing that the company “knowingly designed” its social media applications to be addictive, with other states like Massachusetts filing separately in state court. Other state lawsuits, such as one recently filed by Arkansas, have focused on other social media companies like YouTube.
Some cities, like New York City, have filed lawsuits against social media platforms like Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok. Even school districts like San Mateo schools in California have sued these platforms. All of these share the same assumption that social media is behind the rise in mental health issues.
While there is a lot of overlap, there are some important differences between lawsuits. For example, the largest joint multi-state lawsuit against Meta argues that the company is not complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and still retains underage users despite knowledge of the problem. New York City makes similar claims about noncompliance with COPPA, such assertions are absent from the Massachusetts and Arkansas lawsuits.
The school district lawsuits also differ in their claimed harms. These argue that school districts have had to divert resources toward assisting students with their mental and behavioral health and that school property had been damaged as a result of social media challenges.
The overarching theme being allegations that intermittent rewards systems, notifications, randomly generated likes, link recommendations, and other tactics are all designed to addict—not add value—and lead to mental illness in teens and kids. But this is wrong.
Despite claims of a proven causal relationship between social media use and symptoms of mental illness, studies on the topic have not supported this conclusively. One systemic review of studies on the topic found very mixed results. Sure, some studies show a positive relationship between social media use and mental illness, but the correlation is often weak.
None of this is to dismiss the very real problem of mental health issues among young people. Rates of depression have risen over the past decade and were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Complex problems often have complex causes, some of which include a combination of stressors—bullying and problems at home, to name only two. Social media is not necessarily good or bad for these issues, it could exacerbate them by exposing kids to hateful content or it could help them find community and support.
The lack of clear evidence, however, has not stopped lawmakers from embracing the narrative that social media is inherently harmful to young people.
With studies finding very mixed results and many people finding value from social media, the only thing that is clear is that more evidence is necessary to establish any kind of causality between social media use and increased risk of mental illness. Without that, any action, whether from a court or by legislators, will likely be remembered as yet another baseless panic around technology. Facts, not fears, should drive how we approach the issue of mental illness and whatever possible connection it may have to social media.
Despite some differences, most of the lawsuits filed against social media companies largely rely on the same argument: social media companies intentionally make their platforms addictive and are therefore responsible for the worsening mental health crisis among young people. Without sufficient evidence that connects addictive intent and mental health, however, tech panic will continue to drive lawsuits that are unlikely to help the problem.
Trey Price is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit us at www.TheAmericanConsumer.Org or follow us on X @ConsumerPal.