Arkansas sues YouTube, accuses platform of harming kids’ mental health

Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against YouTube and parent company Alphabet, alleging the platform has contributed to a mental health crisis facing the state’s youth.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Tim Griffin in Arkansas state court, accuses YouTube of violating state laws on deceptive trade practices and public nuisance. The state argues that the platform’s addictive nature has forced Arkansas to spend millions of dollars on mental health services for its youth.

The lawsuit also asserts that YouTube exploits children’s dopamine responses by feeding them harmful content. “YouTube amplifies harmful material, doses users with dopamine hits, and drives youth engagement and advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, youth mental health problems have advanced in lockstep with the growth of social media, and in particular, YouTube.”

While the lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages sought, Arkansas is asking the court to require YouTube to fund prevention, education and treatment programs aimed at curbing excessive social media use among children.

In response, Alphabet’s Google denied the lawsuit’s claims, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda saying: “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls. The allegations in this complaint are simply not true.”

The Arkansas lawsuit claims YouTube’s algorithm steers children toward harmful adult content and that the platform facilitates the spread of child sexual abuse material.

According to YouTube, it requires users younger than age 17 to get their parents’ permission before using the site, while accounts for users younger than 13 must be linked to a parental account. However, it is possible to watch YouTube without an account, and kids can easily lie about their age.

Newsweek reached out to YouTube via email for comment on Monday.

Monday’s lawsuit comes after Arkansas also enacted a law requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts, though that measure has been blocked by a federal judge.

The suit is part of a broader movement by state and federal lawmakers to hold social media platforms accountable for their impact on young users. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy this year called for warnings on social media platforms similar to those required on cigarette packaging, highlighting the potential harm to children’s mental health.

Alongside TikTok, YouTube is among the most popular platforms for children and teens, but it has faced criticism for hosting content that promotes gun violence, self-harm and eating disorders.

In response to these ongoing concerns and criticisms, YouTube in June updated its policies to restrict videos showing firearm modifications and homemade weapons, with these videos now limited to users age 18 and older.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.