Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap must answer for their responsibility in children's addiction

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This is another case they could have done without. Meta, Google, Snap, and TikTok are facing lawsuits from U.S. school districts that accuse them of knowingly making their apps addictive, leading to a mental health crisis among their students. 60~/p>

Web giants on the defensive

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the complaint was admissible, so the case will be able to proceed. The plaintiffs believe that these web giants designed their platforms to get children hooked. This is true of their algorithms, but also of the Like buttons, which can create addiction.

In a statement, lawyers for the school districts welcomed the decision:

Because of the addictive design of Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, students are struggling. This means schools are struggling – their budgets are strained and their educational missions are being diverted as they take on the added responsibility of supporting children in crisis.

The companies have denied the accusations, including Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, who said: “Working with experts in youth, mental health, and parenting, we’ve developed services and policies to provide age-appropriate experiences for young people and strong controls for parents.”.

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Meta echoes the same sentiment: “We’ve built a ton of tools to help parents and teens, and we recently announced that we’re significantly changing the Instagram experience for tens of millions of teens with new Teen Accounts, a protected experience for teens that automatically limits who can contact them and the content they see.” see».

Some context

There are many studies that have looked at this topic. Some have clearly pointed the finger at big tech companies for their choices. A recent study, which conducted a meta-analysis of 46 studies highlighting the link between the deterioration of young people’s mental health and the use of social networks, was more nuanced.

Scientists understand parents’ concerns and say that excessive use of these platforms can be harmful and that there “There are many contents and forms of use that can aggravate problems among young people”.

However, they also point out some positive effects of these applications on Internet users who can successfully identify certain psychological problems and communicate with other people online thanks to these services.

Swiss psychologist Daniel Süsss states: “The reasons for the increase in mental disorders among young people are much more complex than is claimed”.

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