A Kentucky school district reached a $27 million settlement with the owners of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.
Breathitt County is one of the first of more than 1,300 school districts in the U.S. to settle with the tech conglomerates. They allege social media platforms are addictive and caused youth mental health crises that depleted school resources.
According to documents, Meta is taking the hardest hit. They agreed to pay the rural Kentucky school district $9 million, while Snap Inc. and ByteDance (TikTok) are each paying $8 million. The fourth defendant, Google, negotiated a settlement of slightly more than $2 million.
The trial had been set for June 12, and for a while, it looked like Meta would be the only company going to court; the others agreed to settle sooner.
Google was the only one of the four defendants that included more than compensation in their settlement. They’ve agreed to help Breathitt County teachers by providing training programs focused on how to best use YouTube in class.
The Kentucky school district social media settlement was a huge win that may affect other litigation currently underway across the U.S. Unfortunately, none of the agreements or verdicts that have been reached so far have resulted in agreements for platform changes to better protect youth from suffering mental health harm.
They also didn’t admit wrongdoing, which many advocates, plaintiffs, and attorneys say is just as important as being adequately compensated for the damages social media have caused or contributed to.
The school district plans to use the settlement money from Meta and others to cover the extensive resources they said they’ve been forced to use in response to the teen mental health crises. Many of the costs they’ve incurred, such as absenteeism, are more difficult to calculate yet the educational ramifications are just as significant.
Notably, the Breathitt case is part of the social media adolescent addiction MDL, which currently includes over 2,500 lawsuits lawsuits against Meta, Google, Snap Inc., and ByteDance. In California state court, there’s an additional 3,300 lawsuits pending, plus numerous others across the country.
They allege that Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok were intentionally designed with addictive algorithms and features, and that social media causes serious youth mental health problems because of their design. Plaintiffs further claim that tech companies failed to warn users of the risks or implement safety measures to protect young users.
What’s Different Between School District and Individual Social Media Lawsuits?
Put simply, the school district lawsuits claim social media harmed entire school systems and forced them to absorb the consequences. They’re seeking compensation for the costs of mental health crisis management, counseling services, disciplinary interventions, absenteeism, and educational disruptions they say compulsive social media use has caused.
This is a different type of exposure than individual injury lawsuits; school district cases center on consumer protection, negligence, and public nuisance laws. In contrast, individual cases are based on product liability and personal injury laws, alleging that social media platforms harms children and youth.
Another difference is that school districts argue tech companies created a public health problem they had to pay for, whereas individuals are seeking damages related to their injuries, including:
· Emotional distress
· Psychiatric injuries
· Eating disorders
· Self-harm
· Medical bills
· Pain and suffering
There are even some wrongful death claims.
But there’s a similarity between the two types of cases: Like many of the school district lawsuits, individuals claim that Meta, Snap Inc., and others knowingly and intentionally designed addictive platforms.
Regardless of the differences within the social media addiction litigation, legal experts say the Breathitt settlement will likely impact the social media addiction MDL and personal injury cases against Big Tech. After all, if schools are being compensated for the mental health impact of social media, doesn’t this support the thousands of others who claim these platforms caused them harm?
Appeals Largely Unsuccessful for Social Media Companies
Meta appealed the landmark $6 million verdict awarded to an individual plaintiff in March, arguing that user-generated content is the problem, not the design. It’s a common standpoint because social media companies are shielded from liability when it comes to content their users create, share and view. But so far, the company and others have failed to convince courts to throw out lawsuits or overturn verdicts.
Such was the case on May 26, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s appeal of the social media addiction lawsuit filed by Vermont’s state attorney general. Their decision, released in a Supreme Court order, follows substantial court losses in other states, including a verdict in New Mexico that ordered Meta to pay $375 million.
Attorneys say the real significance of some of these wins stems from the increasing use of consumer protection laws, like in the Kentucky school district case. Rather than the personal injury approach, this legal standpoint may prove more effective, providing plaintiffs with another, stronger avenue for justice.
With 1,300 school districts seeking compensation for the impact social media has on student mental health, it’s important to remember that the $27 million settlement marks just the beginning of the largescale legal battle. And school districts may prove to be the biggest threat of all.
