Seattle schools sue social media companies for causing "mental health crisis" among children

guest · Jan 9, 2023

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube have been named in the suit
By Rob Thubron - January 9, 2023

What just happened? The negative impact social media can have on young people's mental health is well documented. Now, Seattle's school district has filed a lawsuit against the companies behind TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, accusing them of creating a "mental health crisis among America's youth."
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The 91-page complaint filed in US district court on Friday claims the social media companies are responsible for worsening the mental health of the children that they target. The tech giants are also blamed for rising rates of anxiety, depression, disordered eating, cyberbullying, self-harm, and suicide ideation. It's led to schools hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media, and providing additional training to teachers.

The lawsuit alleges that between 2009 and 2019, there was, on average, a 30% increase in the number of students at Seattle public schools who reported feeling "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that [they] stopped doing some usual activities."

"[They] have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants' social media platforms."
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Responding to the suit, Google told Axios it has "invested heavily in creating safe experiences for children across our platforms and have introduced strong protections and dedicated features to prioritize their well-being."

Snapchat, meanwhile, told Reuters that it is working "closely with many mental health organizations to provide in-app tools and resources for users and that the well-being of its community is its top priority."
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Reuters: Seattle public schools blame tech giants for social media harm in lawsuit

January 8, 2023
Seattle's public school district filed a lawsuit against Big Tech claiming that the companies were responsible for a worsening mental health crisis among students and directly affected the schools' ability to carry out their educational mission.

The complaint, filed on Friday against Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), Snap Inc (SNAP.N) and TikTok-owner ByteDance with the U.S. District Court, claimed they purposefully designed their products to hook young people to their platforms and were creating a mental health crisis.
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zapjb · Jan 9, 2023

I hope they win $100B.

EASTER · Jan 10, 2023

zapjb said: ↑

I hope they win $100B.
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All of it is True. Social Media and access for kids/youth is been totally & completely destructive in the dumbing down of the family unit and society on the whole. As well as greatly enhancing the criminal element at all levels. Shows how big money & tech in the wrong hands leads to horrid ideas that are clever to openly evade any government control or any other. Moreover, government is totally complicit, and in their own demise as well by it.

xxJackxx · Jan 10, 2023

Idle hands... bored people are dangerous. These outlets give them something to do. I wonder how many have been injured or died from things like Tide Pod challenges, etc. People need to be encouraged to do useful things with their time. Something that is lacking in the sites mentioned.

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