Public schools in the United States sued TikTok and YouTube for 'adolescent mental health crisis'
On January 7, 2023, public schools in Seattle, Washington announced that they had jointly sued TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Schools allege that these apps used psychology and neurology to drive young people to overuse social media, harming children's mental health.
SPS Suit Against Social Media Companies for Creating a Youth Mental Health Crisis - Seattle Public Schools
Seattle schools sue tech giants including TikTok, Meta over youth mental health crisis
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/08/seattle-public-schools-sue-tech-mental-health
Schools sue social networks, claim they “exploit neurophysiology” of kids' brains | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/01/schools-sue-social-networks-claim-they-exploit-neurophysiology-of-kids-brains/
According to a Seattle Public Schools (SPS) announcement, 50% of teens in Washington spend 1-3 hours a day on social media, and 30% spend an average amount of time on social media each day. is over 3 hours. To make matters worse, much of the content that social media curates for young people is harmful and exploitative, such as those that encourage self-harm or advocate extreme diets that consume as little as 300 calories a day. pointed out SPS.
Harmful content specifically exemplified by SPS includes the “Corpse Bride diet,” a diet popular on TikTok aimed at a body shape with protruding ribs.
TikTok changes algorithm in response to a survey report that TikTok makes girls eating disorders in videos such as `` Corpse Bride Diet ''-GIGAZINE
The SPS found that this overuse of social media causes anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation among adolescents in Seattle and across the United States, with one in five children aged 13-17 suffering from a mental health disorder. He singled out five social media platforms — YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook — for creating the situation.
The lawsuit alleges that the Seattle school district saw a 30% increase in students who said they felt 'very sad or desperate and quit their usual activities almost every day for more than two weeks in a row' between 2009 and 2019. survey results have been reported.
From this point of view, in the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, SPS said, ``The defendant has cleverly exploited the fragility of the brains of adolescents, and has forced tens of millions of students across the United States to socialize. ByteDance, which runs TikTok, Facebook and Instagram's Meta, YouTube's Alphabet, and Snapchat, have all been sued for violating state pollution laws.
In response to the lawsuit, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said, ``Across our platform, we are investing heavily in providing children with a safe experience, and we are prioritizing their health. We have introduced powerful protection and dedicated functions for
TikTok also said it could not comment on the pending lawsuit, but pointed out that the app includes features such as age restrictions and break reminders that 'prioritize the safety and well-being of teenagers.' In addition, Meta said, 'To support teens and their families, we have monitoring tools that allow parents to limit the time young people spend on Instagram, as well as age-appropriate experiences that help teens have age-appropriate experiences. We have developed more than 30 tools, including confirmation technology.'
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