Meta settles social media addiction case with US school district

Meta reached an amicable settlement with Breathitt County School District in Kentucky over costs tied to a mental health crisis allegedly caused by Instagram. The district had been positioned to litigate a test case aimed at making social media companies cover expenses for addressing student harms. The school district alleged the platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive, contributing to anxiety, depression, and self-harm, and sought $60 million for damages, an abatement program, and changes to the platforms’ alleged addictive nature. The case was part of multi-district litigation with a trial planned in federal court in Oakland, California, but settlement terms were not disclosed. Similar cases remain set for trial, and a bellwether trial for cases by US states is scheduled to proceed in August.

"Meta has reached a settlement with a US school district which had sued the Instagram-owner over the costs of fighting a mental health crisis allegedly caused by the company's social media platforms. Breathitt School District, located in the US state of Kentucky, had been poised to litigate the first case attempting to make social media companies cover those costs. The school district settled the same case last week with three other defendants: TikTok, Snap Inc, and Google's YouTube."

"The school district alleged the companies deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive, resulting in harms ranging from anxiety and depression to self-harm. It was seeking $60m (44.7m) in damages to pay for fighting social media's impacts on students, as well as an abatement program. The district also wanted the companies to change the alleged addictive nature of their platforms."

""We've resolved this case amicably," a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday of the agreement, which allows it to avoid mounting a defence at this trial, although similar cases remain set for trial in the near future. Breathitt County 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."

""Our focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases," said plaintiffs' attorneys Lexi Hazam, Previn Warren, Chris Seeger and Ronald Johnson in a statement. The 20-year old woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m (4.5m) in damages after jurors agreed with her claim that the companies intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed her menta"

Read at www.bbc.com