New York City is suing Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance under public‑nuisance and negligence theories, arguing their design choices fueled a youth mental‑health crisis. The 327‑page filing cites algorithmic addiction, teen deaths (e.g., subway surfing), and chronic absenteeism to claim citywide harms and costs.
— If courts accept nuisance claims against platform design, governments gain a powerful tort path to regulate recommender systems and recover costs, with downstream impacts on speech, product design, and youth policy.
BeauHD
2025.12.03
80% relevant
Both cases use public‑nuisance and consumer‑protection litigation to hold private firms responsible for broad population harms (mental‑health harms from social platforms vs. diet‑related disease from ultraprocessed foods). David Chiu’s SF complaint mirrors the legal theory and municipal posture in the social‑media suits—seeking local cost recovery and framing corporate design/marketing as a public wrong under state unfair‑competition and nuisance law.
BeauHD
2025.10.10
100% relevant
NYC’s SDNY complaint alleging "algorithms… fuel the addiction machine" and create a "public nuisance" straining city resources.
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