Arkansas is suing YouTube over claims the site is fueling a mental health crisis

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas sued YouTube and parent company Alphabet on Monday, saying the video-sharing platform is intentionally addictive and fueling a mental health crisis among youth in the state.

Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed the lawsuit in state court, accusing her of violating deceptive trade practices and state nuisance laws. The lawsuit alleges the website is addictive and has caused the state to spend millions on expanded mental health and other services for young people.

“YouTube amplifies harmful material, doses users with hits of dopamine, and increases youth engagement and advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, young people’s mental health issues have evolved in step with the growth of social media and particularly YouTube.”

Alphabet’s Google, the owner of the video service and also named as a defendant in the case, denied the lawsuit’s claims.

“Providing young people with a safer and healthier experience has always been a central aspect of our work. “Working with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we have developed services and policies to provide age-appropriate experiences for young people and strict 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 parental permission before using the site, while accounts for users under 13 must be linked to a parent account. But it is possible to watch YouTube without an account, and children can easily lie about their age.

The lawsuit is the latest in a sustained push by state and federal lawmakers to highlight the impact that social media sites are having on younger users. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to do so in June require warnings on social media platforms about their impact on young people’s lives, similar to now Mandatory on cigarette packs.

Arkansas last year filed similar lawsuits against TikTok and Facebook parent company Meta, claiming the social media companies misled consumers about the safety of children on their platforms and the protection of users’ private information. These lawsuits are still pending in state courts.

Arkansas has also passed a law Parental consent required Allowing minors to create new social media accounts, although the measure was blocked by a federal judge.

Along with TikTok, YouTube is one of the most popular sites for children and young people. Both sides were questioned in the past for hosting and in some cases promoting videos that incite gun violence, eating disorders and self-harm.

YouTube changed its in June Firearms Videos GuidelinesBan all videos showing how to remove firearm safety devices. Under the new guidelines, videos depicting homemade weapons, automatic weapons and certain firearm accessories such as silencers are restricted to users 18 years of age or older.

The Arkansas lawsuit alleges that YouTube’s algorithms direct teens to harmful adult content and facilitate the distribution of child sexual abuse material.

The lawsuit does not seek specific damages, but rather orders YouTube to fund prevention, education and treatment for “excessive and problematic social media use.”