WASHINGTON: Several major social media companies have agreed to pay about $27 million to a school district in Kentucky to settle a lawsuit accusing them of contributing to a student mental health crisis, according to court documents reviewed by AFP.
The settlement includes $9 million from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram; $8 million each from Snap, which owns Snapchat, and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok; while Google will pay around $2 million in cash and provide training and software licences valued at about $900,000.
The Breathitt County school district, a rural district in eastern Kentucky, brought the case. The lawsuit had been selected as a test case for more than 1,200 similar lawsuits filed by school districts across the United States.
The district had sought more than $60 million to fund a 15-year mental health programme and cover the costs of addressing the effects of social media on students, including sleep problems, emotional distress and behavioural conflicts.
The case had been scheduled to go to trial later this month in Oakland, California, before the companies agreed to settle.
As part of the agreement, Google will also provide educational support services, including an on-site professional development and training coach, a three-year licence for its Google AI for Education software, a four-year social-emotional learning programme and technical support for Google Workspace tools.
None of the companies admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlements.
The agreements are expected to increase pressure on technology companies to settle the remaining cases, all of which are being overseen by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
The settlements come amid a series of legal setbacks for social media firms.
In March, a jury in Los Angeles found Meta and Google liable over claims linked to the addictive nature of Instagram and YouTube, a ruling that could influence future lawsuits involving social media addiction.
That same month, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million over allegations that minors were exposed to inappropriate content and sexual predators on its platforms.
More than 30 US states are also pursuing a separate lawsuit against Meta over similar claims, with a trial potentially beginning in August in Oakland.
