Meta settles social media addiction case with US school district

["Meta has agreed to a settlement with a US school district that had sued the Instagram owner over the costs of combating a mental health crisis allegedly caused by the company's social media platforms. The terms of the settlement, announced on Thursday, were not disclosed.", "The Breathitt School District in Kentucky had been poised to litigate the first case attempting to make social media companies cover the costs of fighting a mental health crisis. The district had alleged that Meta, TikTok, Snap Inc, and Google's YouTube deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive, resulting in harms ranging from anxiety and depression to self-harm.

The district was seeking $60m in damages to pay for fighting social media's impacts on students, as well as an abatement program.", "The school district's case was chosen as a test case for more than a thousand US school districts which have pursued claims against social media companies. The trial was slated to begin in mid June in federal court in Oakland, California as part of a multi-district litigation. A bellwether trial for cases brought against Meta by US states is set to proceed in the same court starting in August.", "Meta's settlement allows it to avoid mounting a defence at this trial, although similar cases remain set for trial in the near future.

'We've resolved this case amicably,' a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday. The company remains '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.'", 'The settlement comes after a high-profile case brought in Los Angeles by a woman who alleged Meta and YouTube were responsible for her childhood addiction to social media. The 20-year old woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m in damages after jurors agreed with her claim that the companies intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed her mental health.

Meta and Google said they intended to appeal. Snap and TikTok settled that case just prior to that trial.', "Plaintiffs' attorneys Lexi Hazam, Previn Warren, Chris Seeger and Ronald Johnson said in a statement that 'our focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases.' Arturo Béjar, a Meta whistleblower who has testified against the company, said 'when you have products designed to maximize capture of your attention, some people are going to have a harmful relationship to it.'"]