As recently as February 14 of 2024, Mayor Adams of New York, filed a lawsuit against

social media companies for their platform’s harmful effects on the youth. "Our city is built on

innovation and technology, but many social media platforms end up endangering our children's

mental health, promoting addiction, and encouraging unsafe behavior.” (1) The lawsuit aims to

hold the companies of social media platforms accountable for algorithms, the impact on health,

and what the companies should change on their online platforms.

As social platforms grow, so do mental and physical health problems within youth

generations. Throughout the last decade, apps like Instagram have become a primary source of

insecurity bred by unrealistic standards (Chacón, Veronica; Langlais, Michael R.). Adolescents,

specifically up-and-coming teens, are being exposed to heavily photoshopped pictures and

videos, which is taking a toll on their mental health and causing them to harm themselves to

achieve whatever social standards may be prevalent at the time. Both men and women cling to

these standards through social comparison, which causes a multitude of mental and physical

issues (Halliwell, Emma; Harvey, Martin). Young, easily influenced people are developing

insecurities that they attempt to eliminate by posting revealing photos, developing unhealthy

habits such as eating disorders or overworking, and commenting on or insulting their peers

online. Among the adverse effects of social media use, some of the most documented are related

to adolescents' risky behavior, cyberbullying, and eating disorders (Reid & Weigle, [65]). In

addition to developing self-destructive habits, young people are projecting their fears onto

strangers online, which allows the cycle of abuse to spread and continue. While cyberbullying

regarding body image is a problem presented in both genders, studies show that it is most

common in women: Simple engagement with an attractive peer on social media, such as viewing

image content and commenting on photos may subsequently lead to an increase in body
dissatisfaction among adult women (Chacón, Veronica; Langlais, Michael R.). Due to

aforementioned cyberbullying and increased insecurity, suicide rates and self-harm, specifically

in women, have steadily risen. For teenage girls, rates of hospitalization for self-harm have

climbed since 2010 in all 11 countries with available data, by an average of 143% (The

Economist 2023). Researchers predict that, without change, these rates will continue to grow.

With the editing in media, comes people who want to change themselves to look more

like filters on such apps. This is known as ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’, where people are seeking to

have plastic surgery to change their features to look like filters (6). Facial adjustment algorithms

can offer a way to improve people’s satisfaction with their photos. However, it may also

normalize certain facial features and proportions (6). On the other hand, algorithms that show

subtle adjustments may be more socially acceptable than those that show dramatic changes

between photo and reality (6). This affects women aged 18-35 the most, as they represent one of

the largest, most engaged social media groups in the world (7). Facebook, a very popular social

media app, is shown to be used to promote health and dietary behaviors among women greater

than 18 (7). Back in 2020, some social media apps were known to be giving out misinformation

regarding COVID-19 vaccines and nutrition. This happened because users can use hashtags to

extend content and reach beyond existing followers by allowing their content to be categorized

and discoverable using in-app searches (7). The problem with users doing this is it causes a

never-ending stream of personalized content that the user has no desire to see. The consequence

of this is that it’s possible for any young person to experience overwhelming, upsetting content

that they could find hard to break away from (8). To prove this, a research center created a

TikTok account, pretending to be a 13-year-old, and found that pro-suicide content was

recommended within 2.6 minutes of opening the app and pro-eating disorder content in 8
minutes. This is very dangerous, as it can cause children to pick up these habits and harm

themselves.

During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, short-term video clip app TikTok gained popularity

among young teens and adults. The interconnection of communities across the globe was proven

to be therapeutic for its teenage users, positively impacting their mental health in a time of severe

isolation (9). Companies like TikTok use their algorithms to recommend videos based on a

user's interest, liked videos, searches, and history. Many teenage users even use TikTok as their

main source for news (9). But when do these algorithms cross the line? To support the research

provided by Reid and Weigle, it was concluded that, “Social media algorithms that push extreme

content to vulnerable youth are linked to an increase in mental health problems for adolescents,

including poor body image, eating disorders, and suicidality” (10). Children’s For You Pages are

being flooded with content that promotes underweight and extremely skinny models (10) leading

to mental health concerns. With overconsumption of media from smartphones, users social,

academic, and psychological well-being are negatively affected (11). Users on social media can

be blinded by the content posted, believing that others are living happier and healthier lives, in

return, leading to an increase of depression (11). A research study was conducted to correlate

Nomophobia, no mobile phone phobia (12), to depression levels. Out of the participants, 71.7%

were women and 28.3% men, with results showing that 31.5% of them reported moderate cases

of depression (12). But those with severe cases of Nomophobia, 91.7%, reported using their

devices to check social media companies (12). Users of social media, young teens and adults

mainly, are shaping their beliefs of what their lives should look like, be like, and feel like based

off what is posted on social media, even though most of the time, this media is edited.
 For example, a girl by the name of Alexis Spence created a social media account through

one of Meta’s platforms called Instagram. She created this account without her parents’

knowledge at the age of eleven, and just three years later was hospitalized for an eating disorder

known as anorexia nervosa, as well as for depression and anxiety, according to an article written

by Nancy Costello and many others (13). Alexis and her parents claimed that her social media

accounts on Instagram and the content fed to her by the algorithm and CEOs of the company

were to blame. In a documented case study of Stance vs Meta, the document states on page three,

“In Meta’s own words, it created a ‘perfect storm’ of addiction, social comparison, and exposure

to incredibly harmful content and product features, then operated its algorithms to push and

promote harmful content via Alexis’ Feed, Explore, Stories and Reels feature.” (14) The effect

they have on youth is not something done by mistake. Despite this, however, accountability has

yet to be taken. Furthermore, it is incredibly difficult to dispute over these companies as they are

protected by a multitude of things that people would be violating where they to act. The first

amendment is a main contributor to this issue, the amendment that allows freedom of speech is

viable to be violated should accountability be disputed among these companies (14). Besides

these companies being protected under the first amendment, they have gained the power to

outright refuse to take accountability. “Just last month, new released internal documents revealed

that Meta executives refused to take action after learning that their algorithms connected children

with potential child predators were receiving sexually abusive content from adults on their

platforms – each day.” (15). As social media companies and CEO’s continue to shirk their

responsibilities, other people, such as Marsha Blackburn and Mayor Adams, are working to find

ways to stop this monstrosity from hurting tweens, teenagers, and even adults.

Conclusion:
In July of 2024, The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act was passed in the

Senate and in the House of Representatives. (13) As it stands, the bill awaits to be approved by

the President. Until laws can be passed to legally hold social media companies accountable for,

as a society more must be done to come to a better solution. “This article advocates for state

legislation requiring social media companies to conduct periodic algorithm risk audits that

measure the incidence of harm inflicted on young users. Such risk audits should be conducted by

independent third parties, and results should be publicly disclosed.” (13). One author writes,

presenting a possible solution to making social media a safer place for communities to gather and

for content to be shared through the Federal Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act. Only time

will tell what the ever-changing status of social media will look like in the future, for now social

media will continue to influence the lives of its user's health and their character.
(1) The Official Website of New York City. (2024, February 14). Mayor
Adams Announces Lawsuit Against Social Media Companies Fueling
Nationwide Youth Mental Health Crisis. https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-
the-mayor/news/125-24/mayor-adams-lawsuit-against-social-media-
companies-fueling-nationwide-youth-mental-health#/0

(6) Xin Wang, & Yin Guo. (2023). Motivations on TikTok addiction: The
moderating role of algorithm awareness on young people. El
Profesional de La Información, 32(4), 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.jul.11.

(7) Costello, N., Sutton, R., Jones, M., Almassian, M., Raffoul, A., Ojumu,
O., Salvia, M., Santoso, M., Kavanaugh, J. R., & Austin, S. B. (2023).
ALGORITHMS, ADDICTION, AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH: An
Interdisciplinary Study to Inform State-level Policy Action to Protect
Youth from the Dangers of Social Media. American Journal of Law &
Medicine, 49(2/3), 135–172. https://doi.org/10.1017/amj.2023.25.

(8) Elissavet, V., Charalambos, G., Areti, L., Venetia, N. (2024).

Smartphone Use and Social Media Involvement in Young Adults:
Association with Nomophobia, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS)
and Self-Esteem. Topical Advisory Panel Members' Collection Series:
Primary Health Care. https://www.mdpi.com/2870260.

(9) Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., & Singh, A. (2019).
NOMOPHOBIA: NO MObile PHone PhoBIA. Journal of family medicine
and primary care, 8(4), 1297–1300.
https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_71_19.

(10) Fried, O., Jacobs, J., Finkelstein, A., & Agrawala, M. (2020). Editing
Self-Image. Communications of the ACM, 63(3), 70–79.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3326601

(11) Shine, D., Minehan, M., & Knight, A. C. (2022). #Healthpromotion:

A qualitative exploration of how dietitians can use social media to
 positively influence women aged 18–35 years. Nutrition & Dietetics,
79(4 pp.489–496), 496–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12765

(12) Graham, R. (2024). Debate: How the business model of social

media fuels the need for greater moderation. Child & Adolescent
Mental Health, 29(3), 322–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12724

(13) The New York State Senate. (2024, June 6). First-in-Nation Legislation
Limiting Social Media Algorithmic Reach Passes Senate. The New York
State Senate.
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/first-nation-
legislation-limiting-social-media-algorithmic-reach#:~:text=The
%20Stop%20Addictive%20Feeds%20Exploitation,unless%20they
%20receive%20parental%20consent.