May 21 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms on Thursday reached a settlement in the first case set for trial seeking to make social media companies cover the costs that school districts say they have incurred to combat a mental health crisis allegedly fueled by platforms.
The agreement fully resolves a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district, following earlier settlements by co-defendants Alphabet’s YouTube, Snap and TikTok. The case had been scheduled for a June 15 trial in federal court in Oakland, California.
“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,” said a spokesperson for Meta.
Breathitt County School District, a small rural district in Appalachia, accused the companies of designing their platforms to keep young users hooked, driving anxiety, depression and self-harm among students and leaving schools to deal with the consequences.
Breathitt is among roughly 1,200 school districts pursuing similar claims. Its case was selected as a bellwether, or test case, for those lawsuits.
The lawsuit sought over $60 million to cover the costs of counteracting the impact of social media on students’ mental health and to fund a 15-year mental health program to abate the problem. It also sought a court order requiring the companies to modify their platforms to reduce addictive features.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen, Alexia Garamfalvi and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Caitlin Webber and David Ljunggren)
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