Meta settled its first national case with a school district over harm to children's mental health, reaching a confidential agreement with Breathitt County School District in eastern Kentucky, which had initially sought over $60M to cover treatment costs and a 15-year mental health program. The district accused Meta of designing Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to addict children and cause anxiety, depression, and self-harm, with co-defendants Snap, YouTube, and TikTok having settled their parts of the case earlier this month. Breathitt's case was selected as a bellwether for roughly 1,200 similar suits filed by school districts including the Los Angeles Unified School District and New York City Public Schools, with the next lawsuits against the social media companies scheduled to be heard in July.
