San Diego County Sues Social Media Giants Over Alleged Public Nuisance

The logos of mobile apps Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Messenger displayed on a tablet on Oct. 1, 2019. Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images

San Diego County has filed a lawsuit against Big Tech platforms Meta, Snap Inc., ByteDance, and Google, claiming the companies intentionally designed addictive platforms in the pursuit of profit. The companies own Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

The lawsuit, filed by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 27 and announced on Feb. 6, argues that these platforms harm young people’s mental health.

The lawsuit demands major industry reforms, financial penalties, and transparency from social media companies similar to those required in Australia and the European Union.

“We won’t stand by while social media companies exploit children’s mental health for profit, nor will we be silenced by corporate influence,” said Board of Supervisors Acting Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who proposed the lawsuit in July 2024.

The lawsuit, filed under California public nuisance laws, contends that the companies purposely designed addictive platforms via endless scrolling, autoplay, and algorithm-driven content loops, thereby maximizing engagement at the expense of young users’ well-being.

The county asks a court to place transparency mandates on the platforms, order the companies to pay damages to help fund youth mental health services, and order them to incorporate stronger protections for children.

“The data is clear—social media is designed to be addictive, and it’s harming our kids,” said Lawson-Remer. “Tech giants know exactly what they’re doing—exploiting young people for profit while refusing to take responsibility.”

The county is asking a court to rule that the platforms must ban manipulative engagement features, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithm-driven experiences, while introducing stronger age verification to keep underage children off the platforms. The county also asked the court to grant increased transparency in content algorithms and financial penalties for companies failing to implement these safeguards.

The lawsuit cites reports that San Diego’s Rady Children’s Hospital has seen a 30 percent increase in children experiencing mental health crises in 2023. The hospital also reported a 500 percent jump in pediatric behavioral health ER visits between 2011 and 2015, while suicidal thoughts and self-harm have increased significantly since 2010.

Supervisor Jim Desmond said that while media was harmful to youth, a lawsuit is not the answer.

“Where does government end, and parenting begin? We should be educating kids and parents about the dangers of social media, equipping them with the tools to navigate the digital world safely,” Desmond told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

“That means spreading awareness about parental controls, blocking apps, and online scams. A lawsuit won’t stop bullying, anxiety, or violence online—only education and strong parenting will. While I support warning labels on social media apps, I cannot support litigation as the solution.”

The county has asked the court to enter an order that Big Tech conduct constitutes a public nuisance under California law, making the defendants jointly liable. The county also asked the court to require the companies to abate the public nuisance and preclude the nuisance from happening again, as well as award equitable relief to fund prevention education and addiction treatment.

Meta and Snap Inc. have not replied to requests for comment by The Epoch Times.

Researchers at the Brown University School of Public Health who studied social media’s effect on users said the infinite scroll and reward systems on the platform lull users into a flow-like state in which users risk experiencing a distorted sense of time.

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, which owns YouTube, co-authored an article for The Atlantic with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, positing that social media seems to be most harmful during early puberty, around ages 11 to 13 for girls and shortly thereafter for boys.

The lawsuit cited an April 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center suggesting that 36 percent of youth respondents admitted they spend too much time on social media. Some teens in the study reported that they use social media almost constantly, and 54 percent said quitting would be hard, among whom 18 percent said it would be very hard.

A 2023 report by Common Sense Media found that 45 percent of teen girls who use TikTok reported being addicted to it or using it more than intended at least weekly. Meanwhile, 37 percent said the same about Snapchat, 35 percent about YouTube, and 33 percent about Instagram.