– New York City has filed a lawsuit against social media networks TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube for harming the mental health of children and youth.
According to the lawsuit, ByteDance, Meta, Snap, and Google intentionally built and marketed their platforms to attract, attract, and create addiction to young people.
New York Mayor Eric Adams had already anticipated this initiative at the end of January.
“In the past 10 years we have seen how the online world can expose our children to a constant stream of harmful content and fuel a national youth mental health crisis,” the mayor said in a memo.
According to the most populous US city, losses resulting from the use of networks by this audience cost the city US$100 million (R$497 million) annually in health programs and services.
In January, the US Congress held a series of hearings with representatives of social media networks about the harm the networks cause to teenagers.
In response, TikTok said the company has control mechanisms in place, such as age restrictions, parental controls and usage time limits for minors.
Meta cited features to support youth and parents and said she wants minors to have safe, age-appropriate experiences.
Snap stated that the platform differs from traditional networks, for example, in that it opens to the camera and not to the content feed, and does not contain “liking” mechanisms. (Likes) and comments.
Google said that the company seeks to provide a safe and healthy experience, and that it is cooperating with experts in the field of youth, parenting, and mental health.
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