TikTok isn’t the only social media platform encountering legal challenges recently. YouTube has come under scrutiny from the state of Arkansas, which asserts that the popular video-sharing platform inflicts more harm than benefits on its users.
In September 2024, Arkansas filed a lawsuit against YouTube and its parent company, Alphabet (which also owns Google), claiming that the platform intentionally contributes to the escalating mental health crises among its youth demographic.
“YouTube amplifies harmful content, inundates users with dopamine spikes, and prioritizes youth engagement for advertising revenue,”states the lawsuit. “Consequently, youth mental health issues have progressed parallel to the rise of social media, particularly YouTube.”
Arkansas contends that YouTube’s algorithms are playing a role in the mental health challenges faced by its youth.
The lawsuit does not specify any monetary damages; however, it does call for YouTube to finance initiatives aimed at educating users about the risks of “excessive and problematic social media use.”
In response, Google has refuted these allegations, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda stating that the claims in Arkansas’ lawsuit are “simply not true.”
“Providing young individuals with a safer, healthier online experience has always been fundamental to our mission,”he explained. “In partnership with youth, mental health, and parenting experts, we’ve developed services and policies to ensure age-appropriate interactions while offering parents effective controls.”
A Google representative claims the allegations made in Arkansas’ lawsuit are “simply untrue.”
YouTube is not the first social media platform to face legal action from Arkansas; the state also filed lawsuits against TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, alleging that these platforms were “misleading”users regarding child safety measures and privacy protections, as reported by KOB 4.
YouTube is the latest target following TikTok’s involvement in several lawsuits connected to tragic incidents related to the “blackout challenge,” where children reportedly tried the dangerous trend after seeing it on the app.
Earlier this year, TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat faced a $4.5 billion lawsuit from Canadian schools claiming that these platforms “disrupt the education system”in the nation.
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