Over the past year, dozens of US states have brought devastating lawsuits against Facebook, claiming that the company has intentionally created addictive products and ignored concerns about potential risks to the mental health of young users. And this week, New York City got in on the act, suing Facebook and several other tech giants and alleging that they “designed, developed, produced, operated, promoted, distributed, and marketed their platforms to attract, capture, and addict youth, with minimal parental oversight.”

“Over the past decade, we have seen just how addictive and overwhelming the online world can be, exposing our children to a non-stop stream of harmful content and fueling our national youth mental health crisis,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Today, we’re taking bold action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers to hold these companies accountable for their role in this crisis, and we’re building on our work to address this public health hazard. This lawsuit and action plan are part of a larger reckoning that will shape the lives of our young people, our city, and our society for years to come.”

According to the suit, Facebook may have violated several city laws dealing with public nuisance and gross negligence in the design of its products. And while that may be difficult for the city to prove, this is just another privacy-related legal headache for a company already drowning in them.

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