The legal and political battle over social media and children's mental health has reached a critical juncture, with more than 40 US states having filed lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.
The scientific picture is more nuanced than the public debate acknowledges. There is strong correlational evidence linking heavy social media use with higher rates of depression and anxiety, particularly among teenage girls. Researchers Jean Twenge and Jonathan Haidt argue the timing โ the mental health decline among teens accelerated sharply after 2012 when smartphone ownership became widespread โ constitutes strong evidence of causation. Other researchers argue the effect sizes are small and correlational evidence cannot establish causation.
The state attorney general lawsuits allege that the platforms knowingly designed their products to be addictive to minors โ and that internal documents show they were aware of the harms.
The internal documents are damning. These companies knew. They chose engagement over the wellbeing of children. That is what this lawsuit is about.