A lawsuit accuses social media giants of hiding their research on the harmful effects on adolescents' mental health

A lawsuit accuses social media giants of concealing their research on the detrimental effects on adolescents' mental health. Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat are well aware of how addictive their platforms can be for teenagers. Nonetheless, they continue to target young users, as highlighted in an article published by CNN on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

This claim is made by a group of school districts in a lawsuit against these social media giants, based on a recently released legal document that cites internal company documents.

"Instagram is a drug... we are somewhat like dealers," said researchers from Meta in an internal discussion, according to the document.

An internal report from TikTok notes that "minors do not have the mental faculties necessary to control the amount of time they spend in front of a screen."

Snapchat executives once acknowledged that users "addicted to Snapchat have no room for anything else. Snap dominates their lives."

Employees at YouTube stated that "pushing users to use the platform more often each day is not compatible with our efforts to improve digital well-being," according to the document.

These internal comments, along with research and employee testimonials, have been presented as evidence in a significant lawsuit filed by hundreds of individuals, school districts, and attorneys general in the United States against Meta (the parent company of Instagram), Snap, TikTok, and Google (the parent company of YouTube), in the Northern District Court of California.

The complaint alleges that the platforms "deliberately integrated features designed to maximize youth engagement to increase their advertising revenue." The school districts also accuse social media of contributing to a mental health crisis among the youth, which schools must now address through investments in counseling and other resources.

The companies have sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. Spokespersons for Meta, TikTok, and Snap claimed that the document released on Friday presents a misleading picture of their platforms and their efforts for user safety. CNN has also reached out to YouTube for comment.

The 235-page document, released on Friday by the plaintiffs, shows that companies are aware that their applications could harm teenagers, yet continue to pursue young users to boost engagement and profits. It also cites internal documents suggesting that well-being and parental control features have limited effectiveness.

Parents, researchers, whistleblowers, and lawmakers have already expressed their concerns, stating that tech giants prioritize profit over user safety, particularly for young people. During a Senate hearing in January 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel apologized to parents whose children were affected by social media.

The companies are facing increasing legal pressure. In addition to the lawsuit in Northern California, the four companies are also defendants in a consolidated lawsuit in Southern California, which claims they have harmed the mental health of young people and is set to begin in January. The companies are also contesting these allegations by invoking Section 230, a law that protects tech companies from liability regarding user publications.

Each of the four companies has implemented several safety features for youth and parental controls in recent years, such as reminders to "take a break," content restrictions for young users, and default privacy protections. However, the document released on Friday states that, in some cases, the companies are aware that these tools have limited effectiveness.