Boston Mayor Wu sues Meta, other 'addictive' social media apps that target children

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on Jul 8, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu said the City of Boston, on behalf of the Boston Public Schools, has filed a lawsuit against Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and other addictive social media companies she says are harming students’ mental health.

Wu said Wednesday that the city’s lawsuit alleges social media companies like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, along with TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, deliberately target children with addictive feature designs that worsen mental health.

“Social media companies have evidence of the harm they are causing to our kids by designing platforms that keep them hooked in endless scrolling and monetizing engagement at the expense of their mental health,” Wu said in a statement. “Boston is taking legal action to protect children and youth and hold these companies accountable.”

City officials said there’s been a “significant increase” in student mental health needs tied to social media use in the Boston Public Schools over the past decade. Children and teens in the school district have been self-reporting those concerns that the city says correlate with the proliferation of addictive social media features.

In 2021, for example, 44% of BPS high school students reported persistent sadness, up from 27% in 2015, per data from the Boston Public Health Commission.

In response, BPS has implemented strategies to counteract declines in student mental health that the mayor’s office said integrates prevention, intervention, education and family engagement.

The school district has beefed up its mental health resources in recent years, with 240 social workers and 105 school psychologists now employed, as opposed to six and 48, respectively, in 2007, city officials said.

“Boston Public Schools provides critical mental health services for young people in our community through our counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses who have gone above and beyond to meet increasing student needs,” Superintendent of Schools Mary Skipper said in a statement.

“We work hard to set our students on the best course for success through rigorous academics and whole-student supports, and the research is clear that social media has had a negative impact on students’ well-being while benefiting companies,” Skipper added. “We all need to do what is right for our students.”

The city’s lawsuit, on behalf of BPS, aims to force social media companies to remove addictive features that keep students hooked, such as endless scrolling, constant notifications and targeted algorithms that feed off user behavior.

It also seeks compensation from social media companies that would recoup the city for providing students with related mental health support. The city said inadequate age verification has allowed children to use addictive apps with little protection.

The city’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California and alleges the “youth mental health crisis” the social media companies have created constitutes a public nuisance, and that their conduct was negligent. The city’s case will be consolidated into complaints filed by more than 1,500 school districts across the country.”

“Today,” Wu said, “we are making it clear that social media companies must end exploitative practices and be accountable to the standards of basic protection for children.”

A Meta spokesperson said it “strongly” disagrees with the allegations in the city’s lawsuit.

“We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” the Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “For over a decade, we’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and we’re always working to do better.”

_____