（Boston Orange編譯）波士頓市長吳弭（Michelle Wu）7月8日宣佈，市府代表波士頓公校（BPS），加入全美1500多個學區的聯合訴訟，控告Meta、TikTok、Snapchat與YouTube等社交媒體，以成癮性設計鎖定未成年人，損害了學生心理健康。
吳弭市長表示，這些企業明知社交平台對兒童有害，仍以營利為優先考量，市府將追究責任並要求基本保護標準。波士頓公校總監史基珀（Mary Skipper）指出，波士頓公校系統近年對心理健康服務的需求大幅上升，已有研究佐證，社群媒體對學生有負面影響。
社區機構「拉丁協會（Sociedad Latina）」也支持訴訟，指責科技巨頭為了利潤忽視青少年發展。
數據顯示，波士頓公校高中生表示自己長期感到悲傷的比例，從2015年的27%升至2021年的44%。學區為做因應大幅擴張心理健康資源，聘僱人數從2007年的6名社工及48名心理師，大增至今年的240名社工和105名心理師，並促成25個以上社群心理健康組織組成「波士頓校園行為健康協作組織（Boston School-Based Behavioral Health Collaborative, BSBBHC）」提供直接服務。
訴訟主張，相關公司透過無限滑動、推播通知與演算法推薦等設計，刻意延長使用時間並提高依賴性，同時缺乏有效年齡驗證機制，使未成年用戶易於接觸內容。市府要求業者移除成癮機制，並賠償學區因應學生心理健康需求所增加的成本。
這起訴訟案已在加州北區聯邦法院（U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California）提出，指控業者有過失並構成「公眾妨礙」，將與全美類似案件合併審理。這反映出全美對青少年心理健康危機與社群媒體責任的持續關注。
MAYOR MICHELLE WU ANNOUNCES LAWSUIT AGAINST META AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES OVER HARM TO BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS STUDENTS’ MENTAL HEALTH
BOSTON - July 8, 2026 - Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the City of Boston, on behalf of Boston Public Schools (BPS), has filed a lawsuit against Meta and other social media companies, including TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, alleging that these platforms deliberately target minors with addictive design features that harm children’s 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,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Boston is taking legal action to protect children and youth and hold these companies accountable. Today, we are making it clear that social media companies must end exploitative practices and be accountable to standards of basic protection for children.”
“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," said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. "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. We all need to do what is right for our students."
Over the past decade, BPS has seen a significant increase in student mental health needs directly tied to social media use. Consistent with national mental health trends, BPS children and adolescents have reported increasing mental health concerns since the proliferation of social media platforms’ addictive features. For example, in 2021, 44% of BPS high school students reported persistent sadness, up from 27% in 2015. (Boston Public Health Commission, 2024).
"As an out-of-school-time provider, we see firsthand how social media addiction is reshaping childhood. We see young people who struggle to focus, to connect and to simply be present," said Alexandra Oliver-Davila, Executive Director of Sociedad Latina. "These Big Tech companies knew the harm their platforms caused and chose profit over young people's well-being. Sociedad Latina fully supports the City of Boston and The Boston Public Schools decision to hold these companies accountable, because our young people deserve better, in the classroom and beyond it."
Recognizing social media’s profound impact on student well-being and learning, BPS has adopted a comprehensive, data-driven response to the student mental health crisis that integrates prevention, intervention, education, and family engagement. To meet students’ needs, BPS has exponentially expanded its mental health resources in recent years. BPS now employs 240 social workers and 105 school psychologists, as opposed to 6 social workers and 48 school psychologists in 2007. BPS leads the Boston School-Based Behavioral Health Collaborative (BSBBHC), which brings together more than 25 community mental health organizations to provide direct services to BPS students.
The City’s lawsuit seeks to hold social media companies accountable by forcing them to remove their addictive features and compensate the City for the mental health support our students need. These platforms designed addictive features like endless scrolling, constant notifications, and targeted algorithms specifically to keep young people hooked. And inadequate age verification has made it easy for children to access these platforms with little protection. As a result, a generation of young people have been left struggling with mental health crises, and school districts have been the front line in this crisis.
Boston’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of California and alleges the youth mental health crisis Defendants have created constitutes a public nuisance, and that Defendants’ conduct was negligent. The case will be consolidated with the complaints filed by more than 1,500 school districts across the country.
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