Boston is suing the makers of Instagram, TikTok and other major digital companies to protect kids from design that feeds “addictive behavior,” said Mayor Michelle Wu.
The litigation is expected to be consolidated with similar cases filed by more than 1,500 other school districts across the country that have sued the tech giants since 2022.
“Our ability to connect with each other through social media has totally transformed society,” Wu said Wednesday on Boston Public Radio. “And we also need to make sure that there are standards for children not to be directly targeted by algorithms that prioritize endless scrolling.”
Boston filed its lawsuit on behalf of Boston Public Schools in the Northern District of California on Wednesday, accusing some of the nation’s largest digital companies of negligence. The suit names Meta, which runs both Facebook and Instagram; Bytedance, which runs TikTok; Snap, which makes Snapchat; and Google, which owns YouTube.
The suit alleges those companies have targeted children, illegally harvesting their data and driving a mental health crisis. That crisis is the basis, school districts claim in the ongoing lawsuit, for their legal right to sue the companies. Local governments and school districts must deal with the repercussions, which include changing lesson plans to fit students’ shorter attention spans, and putting money toward mental health support, plaintiffs argue.
Boston Public Schools has dramatically expanded and invested in its mental health resources for students in recent years, the city noted in a press release.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda told GBH News the allegations “are simply not true.”
“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls,” Castañeda wrote.
A Meta spokesperson said, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people. For over a decade, we’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most.”
A spokesperson for Snap also said the company disagrees with the allegations. “We do not target schools. From the beginning, Snap considered how time, content, and online interactions influence real-life relationships. We deliberately designed Snapchat to create a unique experience that encourages self-expression, visual communication, and authentic, real-time conversations, rather than promoting endless passive consumption.”
Massachusetts state legislators this year have been debating how, or if, to rein in social media companies. Some measures would require companies to verify users are at least 14 years of age, compel companies to limit minors’ daily usage by default, and disable certain features, including auto-scroll.
“I know the state has also already taken some efforts, and there’s been leadership to ensure there’s regulations around age or time of day and certain other ways of accessing these platforms,” Wu said. “This lawsuit is about the platforms themselves ... and what internal rules they need to institute.”
Bytedance and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
