New York City Sues Social Media Companies for Triggering Mental Health Crisis

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2025 – The city of New York in new litigation claimed major social media platforms were designed to “exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of youth.”

On Wednesday, a 327-page complaint against Meta Platforms was filed by the city in the Manhattan federal court against Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook and Instagram; Alphabet, parent company of Google and YouTube; Snap, owner of Snapchat; and ByteDance, parent company of TikTok.

This followed similar actions by other governments, school districts and individuals. About 2,050 lawsuits nationwide — in federal litigation in Oakland, Calif., according to a Reuters report.

New York City is one of the largest plaintiffs. The city’s public schools and healthcare system also joined the lawsuit.

“Defendants should be held to account for the harms their conduct has inflicted,” the city said. “As it stands now, plaintiffs are left to abate the nuisance and foot the bill.”

The city withdrew from a California state lawsuit filed in February 2024 to take part in the larger federal case, a law department spokesperson said.

According to reports, 77.3 percent of New York City high school students and 82.1 percent of girls spend three or more hours a day on “screen time,” including TV, computers and smartphones.

In January 2024, the city’s health commissioner declared social media a public health hazard and said schools had to spend more taxpayer dollars to address the mental health crisis among minors caused by social media use.

“Subway surfing” is a specific issue that New York City blamed on social media companies. The trend involves riding on top of or clinging to the sides of moving trains. According to reports, 16 people have died as a result of subway surfing since 2023, including two girls, ages 12 and 13, earlier this month.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said allegations concerning YouTube are “simply not true,” because it is a streaming service and not a social networking platform used for personal interaction.