On Thursday, Meta settled a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district that claimed the tech giant’s social media platforms have created a mental health crisis at its schools.
The case was considered the first of its kind and a bellwether (a case that is representative of a large pool of lawsuits and will be a test for future litigation). The plaintiffs argue that social media platforms have had a major negative impact on the mental health of school-age children, which in turn has caused a burden on the education system, as American schools were forced to redirect resources to counter this problem.
The case was set for trial in less than a month, and Snap, YouTube, and TikTok were co-defendants, but all three reached settlements earlier this month before Meta did.
“We’ve resolved this case amicably and remain focused on our longstanding work to build protections like Teen Accounts that help teens stay safe online, while giving parents simple controls to support their families,” a Meta spokesperson told Gizmodo.
The settlement comes shortly after Meta lost a key bellwether social media addiction trial. Back in March, a judge in Los Angeles ruled that Meta was liable for the adverse mental health effects a now 20-year-old suffered after getting addicted to Instagram from an early age. The representatives of the young woman argued successfully that it was Meta’s deliberate design choices, like the infinite scroll and face-altering filters on stories, that had exacerbated her addiction and subsequent mental health issues like self-harm and depression.
The verdict was pivotal, as it reversed a previous protection granted to social media platform operators under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Under the law, Meta was relieved of any liability for content posted by third parties on its platforms. In the recent case, its attorneys contended that the adverse mental health effects suffered by young Instagram users had been caused solely by third parties, not the platform itself.
Meta has since asked the court to overturn the verdict.
As predicted, that verdict created a watershed moment, and advertisements from attorneys looking to take on clients in fresh social media addiction cases flooded Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Messenger.
It was also really bad publicity for Meta at a time when the social media giant is already facing increased scrutiny on youth-related issues. Last year, Meta came under fire after a Reuters report found that the company had allowed its AI chatbots to have “sensual” conversations with children.
Both lawsuits are also symptoms of a changing tide in social media regulation.
After numerous studies and expert reports spanning years argued that social media algorithms and addictive design features had been wrecking the minds of young, vulnerable users, governments around the world have recently begun to take more serious measures. In December, Australia became the first country to ban users under 16 years of age from social media platforms, sparking a regulatory wave that has spread to the rest of the world. Stateside, that fight has mostly played out in courtrooms and local governments.
It’s unclear under what terms Meta settled with Kentucky’s Breathitt County school district, but this is unlikely to be the last time Meta makes headlines with social media addiction litigation in the short run. There are more than a thousand other school districts with similar claims that are still seeking justice. On top of that, per Reuters, there are more than 3,300 social media addiction cases pending against various platform operators in California state court alone.
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