CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Fayette among Ky. districts suing social media companies over student mental health

Lexington Herald-Leader - 3/30/2023

At least 11 Kentucky school districts, including Fayette and Jefferson, have recently voted to authorize lawsuits against social media companies, citing negative impacts on students.

“This school district believes it is entitled to compensation for its efforts and resources expended to address and treat the mental health challenges caused by social media,” a resolution from the Fayette school board said when members unanimously voted Monday.

Public schools in Kentucky have been significantly impacted by the crisis from overexposure to social media because school districts are one of the main providers of mental health supports and services for school-aged children, the Fayette school board resolution said. In addition to Fayette and Jefferson, the Breathitt, Bullitt, Clark, Estill, Jessamine, Larue, Madison, Martin, and Wolfe school boards have voted to pursue litigation, said Ronald Johnson, the attorney who is handling the Kentucky cases.

Johnson, and his law firm, Hendy Johnson Vaughn & Emery of Louisville will file the civil actions in Kentucky.

A number of other school districts in Kentucky are considering filing lawsuits, Johnson said.

Several other school districts in the United States have filed similar lawsuits in recent weeks, including the Chathams School District in New Jersey which in February sued Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Google and YouTube, according to CBS News.

Those are also the defendants that Johnson said he intends to name in his lawsuits.

Snapchat officials responded to the Herald-Leader Wednesday, saying they can’t comment on ongoing litigation. However, a spokesperson said, “Nothing is more important to us than the well being of our community.”

“At Snapchat, we curate content from known creators and publishers and use human moderation to review user generated content before it can reach a large audience, which greatly reduces the spread and discovery of harmful content,” the spokesperson said..

Snapchat officials said they work closely with leading mental health organizations to provide in-app tools for Snapchatters and resources to help support both themselves and their friends. They said they were constantly evaluating how to make the platform safer, including through new education, features and protections.

The other social media companies did not immediately respond to the Herald-Leader. But they told CBS News that they create safe experiences and work with mental health professionals.

According to CBS News, the New Jersey district said social media companies exploit children and schools have to spend additional money to prevent suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety. Johnson said the Seattle Public Schools was the first to file and some school districts in Florida had also filed a lawsuit similar to that planned by the Kentucky districts.

The Washington Post said after the Seattle school district filed in January, lawsuits from schools in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida followed. CNN reported Wednesday that the state of Arkansas has sued TikTok, its parent ByteDance, and Facebook-parent Meta “over claims the companies’ products are harmful to users.”

The Fayette school district wants to help reduce the negative impact of social media on the mental health of students, its resolution said.

Research has shown that excessive use of social media can be harmful to the mental, behavioral, and emotional health of young people. Schools spend a significant amount of time and resources addressing students’ mental health challenges, the Fayette resolution said.

“Many children are burdened by mental health challenges, and many young people face unprecedented learning and life struggles that can be amplified by the negative impacts of increased screen time, unfiltered content, and potentially addictive properties of social media,” the resolution said.

School district officials have not yet said how much money the Fayette County district received from a settlement with the e-cigarette company Juul. Johnson also filed that lawsuit.

With both lawsuits, Johnson said, Fayette schools was not seeking a revenue stream, but was trying to recover money they lost.

He said there are costs the school district has borne that were caused by the social media and e-cigarette companies. The school district does not want pass the costs on to the taxpayers. Instead, the companies that caused the problem should pay, Johnson said.

©2023 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit kentucky.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.