Snap, YouTube, and TikTok settled the first lawsuit of its kind alleging that social media addiction has cost public schools massive amounts of money, brought by the Breathitt County School District in Kentucky, with terms not yet disclosed and Meta still facing trial in the same case viewed as a bellwether for over 1,000 similar lawsuits nationwide. Lawyers representing the school districts said their “focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases” alleging that social media has disrupted learning, created a mental health crisis, and strained budgets. The settlement follows an earlier case settled by Snap and TikTok in which a 19-year-old plaintiff was awarded $6M in a jury trial against Google and Meta, and Meta separately lost a $375M suit brought by New Mexico’s Attorney General, with many plaintiffs pushing for significant changes to social media apps to limit harm to minors beyond just monetary awards.
