City of Providence sues Facebook, TikTok and other social media companies. Here's why.

Providence is among the latest cities in the country to sue social media companies for what it argues is a brewing mental health crisis among youth addicted to the platforms.

In a suit filed near the end of April in U.S. District Court, the City of Providence called out Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, claiming they are "ruthlessly seeking to maximize profits at any cost and with callous disregard for the harm that their platforms cause to minors’ mental and behavioral health."

The suit cites an alarming Centers for Disease Control statistic that says from 2007 to 2018, the suicide rate for people ages 10 to 24 years old jumped by about 57%. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency, the suit notes.

Providence contends that social media companies "have exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into feedback loops, which Defendants know will lead to excessive use (and abuse) of social media."

The city goes on to argue that poor mental health is impacting education as students weather depression, anxiety and other issues while being less likely to perform well in school or even attend classes.

The city is being represented by two former Rhode Island Attorneys General: Jeffrey Pine and Patrick Lynch.

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What does the city want?

The city said it needs "funding to develop a long-term plan to deal with the mental health crisis," but Mayor Brett Smiley's communications director, Patricia Socarras, said the city hasn't figured out how much money it is seeking to win from the lawsuit.

"An appropriate amount of financial compensation hasn't been determined, but we hope to see stronger regulations that will hold these companies accountable for the impacts they have on our community and our constituents," Socarras said.

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To develop a plan to deal with the mental health impact, Socarras said the city "will work with state agencies and community partners."

"The City has been a strong supporter of implementing social emotional supports inside schools and outside of the classroom, and supports additional staff that focus on youth mental health during transitional ages," she added.

What are the companies saying?

Google, which was named in the lawsuit and owns YouTube, flatly denied the city's claims and others raised in similar lawsuits filed in the U.S.

"Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work. In collaboration with child development specialists, we have built age-appropriate experiences for kids and families on YouTube, and provide parents with robust controls," said Google spokesman José Castañeda. "The allegations in these complaints are simply not true."

Snap, which owns various products including Snapchat, argued that it's different from other services because it opens to a camera rather than a content feed.

"We aren't an app that encourages perfection or popularity, and we vet all content before it can reach a large audience, which helps protect against the promotion and discovery of potentially harmful material," a spokesperson for the company said. "While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping friends feel connected, informed, happy, and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence."

Antigone Davis, head of safety for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company has developed tools to let parents determine how much their child uses the Instagram app and when. Davis said the app also includes age verification, automatically makes accounts private for users under 16 years old, and sends teens notifications to encourage breaks.

"We’ve invested in technology that finds and removes content related to suicide, self-injury or eating disorders before anyone reports it to us," Davis said. "These are complex issues, but we will continue working with parents, experts and regulators such as the state attorneys general to develop new tools, features and policies that meet the needs of teens and their families."

Where did this all begin?

Providence isn't the first to take aim at social media companies. It has followed a wave of municipalities. Seattle Public Schools launched the first such lawsuit in January. Counties and school districts in Alabama, California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and more followed.

How likely are cities, schools to win their cases?

It may be tough for plaintiffs to chart a path to victory. At issue is the often-cited Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Simply put, it means social media companies can't be held responsible for what users post. Those companies are immune.

Here's what to watch: In February, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Google v. Gonzalez, a case that may determine whether social media companies should be responsible for what their algorithms promote.

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The case connects to the death of Nohemi Gonzalez, a college student from California, who was killed in the 2015 Paris terror attacks committed by Islamic State militants. Her family argued that YouTube helped recruit the terrorists by recommending them content related to Islamic State. Google argued it is protected by Section 230.

An opinion on the case has not yet been released.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence joins other cities suing Meta, Snap, TikTok over youth mental health