Lawsuit accuses YouTube of harming young people’s mental health

Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed the suit in state court, accusing them of violating the state’s deceptive trade practices and public nuisance laws. The lawsuit alleges the site is addictive and has led to the state spending millions to expand mental health and other youth services.

“YouTube amplifies harmful material, doses users with dopamine, and generates youth engagement and advertising revenue,” the suit says. “As a result, youth mental health issues have advanced in step with the rise of social media and YouTube in particular.”

Alphabet’s Google, which owns the video service and is also named as a defendant in the case, has denied the suit’s claims.

“Providing young people with a safer and healthier experience has always been central to our work. Working with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we’ve created services and policies to provide age-appropriate experiences for young people and robust controls for parents,” Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement. “The allegations in this complaint are simply not true.”

YouTube requires users under 17 to get their parents’ permission before using the site, while accounts for users under 13 must be linked to a parental account. But it’s possible to watch YouTube without an account, and kids can easily lie about their age.

The lawsuit is the latest in an ongoing effort by state and federal lawmakers to highlight the impact social media sites are having on younger users. In June, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms about their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now required on cigarette packs.

Last year, Arkansas filed similar lawsuits against TikTok and Facebook parent company Meta, alleging that the social media companies are misleading consumers about the safety of children on their platforms and the protection of users’ private data. Those lawsuits are still pending in state court.

Arkansas also enacted a law requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts, though that measure was blocked by a federal judge.

Along with TikTok, YouTube is one of the most popular sites for children and teenagers. Both sites have come under scrutiny in the past for hosting and in some cases promoting videos that encourage gun violence, eating disorders and self-harm.

In June, YouTube changed its policies on firearms videos, banning any videos that demonstrate how to remove firearm safety devices. Under the new policies, videos featuring homemade guns, automatic weapons and certain firearm accessories such as silencers will be restricted to users over 18.

The Arkansas lawsuit alleges that YouTube’s algorithms steer young people to content that is harmful to adults and that it facilitates the spread of child sexual abuse material.

The suit does not seek specific damages, but asks that YouTube be ordered to fund prevention, education and treatment for “excessive and problematic social media use.”

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