SEATTLE—The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.
Seattle Public Schools filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court. The 91-page complaint (pdf) says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children.
It blames them for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders including anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and cyberbullying; making it more difficult to educate students; and forcing schools to take steps such as hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media, and providing additional training to teachers….