By Hanna Seariac, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the city's suit against major online platforms including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in a press conference Wednesday.

"Over the past decade, we have seen just how addictive and overwhelming the online world can be, exposing children to content they are not ready for," Adams said, adding, "There is growing evidence that the power of social media is a major cause" of the mental health crisis.

Adams said the city filed a suit after seeing the alleged harms of social media.

"New York City, like other parts of this nation, is battling an unprecedented mental health crisis among its youth and serious disruption to the public health, fueled by defendants' creation and promotion of addictive and dangerous social media platforms," the suit alleges. "Youth are now addicted to defendants' platforms in droves, resulting in substantial interference with school district operations and imposing a large burden on cities, school districts and public hospital systems that provide mental health services to youth."

Snapchat issued a statement to ABC News in response to the suit. "Snapchat was intentionally designed to be different from traditional social media, with a focus on helping Snapchatters communicate with their close friends. Snapchat opens directly to a camera — rather than a feed of content that encourages passive scrolling — and has no traditional public likes or comments. While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence."

A spokesperson for Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, told ABC News, "We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and we have over 30 tools and features to support them and their parents. We've spent a decade working on these issues and hiring people who have dedicated their careers to keeping young people safe and supported online."

https://www.ksl.com/article/50879634/new-york-city-sues-social-media-companies