Meta settles school district’s social media addiction lawsuit

Meta on Thursday agreed to settle a social media addiction lawsuit filed by a Kentucky school district, ruling out a lawsuit that accused the tech giant of harming young users and, by extension, their schools.

The case, which was set to go to trial in mid-June in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, was among 1,200 lawsuits filed by school districts accusing Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube of negligence and public harassment.

The lawsuits allege the companies created addictive technologies that resulted in significant costs for mental health counseling, tech programs and other services paid for by schools.

YouTube, Snap and TikTok previously settled in the Kentucky district, Breathitt County Schools. While terms were not disclosed, Breathitt’s lawsuit sought more than $60 million in funding for mental health programs.

The settlement follows two major losses in social media addiction cases in March, when juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico found Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, liable for harming young users.

The companies have now paid to fend off one in a flurry of similar lawsuits expected to go to trial in the next two years after thousands of individuals, states and schools sued over allegations that the companies designed their products to be as addictive as cigarettes or casinos.

Drawing a page from the playbook used against Big Tobacco in the 1990s, the lawsuits allege that social media features such as endless scrolling and auto-play video create compulsive use by minors. Addictive use of technology has led to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts among young people, prosecutors say.

Google-owned Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube say there is no clear scientific link between technology use and addiction, insisting there must be strong evidence that their products have significantly harmed young users.

But the plaintiffs’ legal strategy has already shown promise.

In late March, a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and YouTube liable for personal injury claims brought by a now 20-year-old woman, known as KGM. The landmark case accused the companies of designing their products in a way that would keep her online for hours, leading to anxiety and body dysmorphia. The jury awarded her $6 million in damages.

Meta was also found liable that month in a child safety case filed by the New Mexico attorney general, which accused the company of failing to comply with consumer protection laws by allowing predators to target children through its apps. A New Mexico court has awarded the state $375 million in damages, and the judge is considering the state’s push for changes to Instagram and Facebook technologies to make them safer and less addictive for young users.

Meta and YouTube said they would appeal the rulings.

The Kentucky lawsuit was one of a series of federal cases filed by school districts and prosecutors scheduled to go before an Oakland jury this summer. Another school district case brought by the district in Tucson, Arizona, is scheduled to begin in mid-August.

Kentucky District Attorneys Lexi Hazam, Previn Warren, Chris Seeger and Ronald Johnson said in a statement that they have turned their attention to other lawsuits against the social media giants.

“Our focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts that have filed cases,” they said.

Liza Crenshaw, a spokeswoman for Meta, said: “We have resolved this case amicably and continue to focus on our long-term work to build protections like Teen Accounts that help teens stay safe online while giving parents simple controls to support their families.”