US Schools Start Legal Actions against Social Media Companies

US Schools Start Legal Actions against Social Media Companies

Social media companies are facing legal action seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

The lawsuits² came recently from the public schools in Seattle, Washington and a suburban³ school system. But the new lawsuits face a complex legal path.

The lawsuits argue the social media platforms push harmful content. The U.S. Supreme⁴ Court is to hear arguments next month over how much federal law protects the tech industry from such claims. But even if the school systems are able to move forward with their lawsuits, it will be difficult to prove the industry is at fault.

Carl Szabo is a lawyer with the tech industry trade association NetChoice. He said the companies should not be blamed because they may have shown teens content that caused emotional harm. He compared the legal action to suing a bookstore "because an employee recommended a book that caused emotional harm or made a teenager feel bad."

Seattle Public Schools on Friday sued the tech companies behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat. They argued the companies created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children. The Kent School District south of Seattle filed a lawsuit¹ Monday.

The districts blame the companies for increasing mental health and behavioral disorders⁵ including anxiety, depression, disordered eating and cyberbullying. They say the mental health problems have made it harder to educate students and have forced schools to take steps like hiring more mental health professionals. Schools have also had to create lesson plans about the effects of social media and provide more training to teachers.

"Our students ... face unprecedented⁶ learning and life struggles that are amplified⁷ by the negative" effects of increased screen time," Seattle Superintendent⁸ Brent Jones said in an emailed statement last week.

Federal law helps protect online companies from legal action based on what users post on their platforms. But the lawsuits argue the law does not protect the behavior in this case, where the companies' own systems push harmful content.

If the high court's decision makes clear that tech companies can be held responsible, the school districts will still have to show that social media was in fact to blame. Seattle's lawsuit says that from 2009 to 2019, there was about a 30 percent increase on average of students reporting feeling very "sad or hopeless almost every day" for weeks at a time.

But Szabo pointed⁹ out that Seattle's graduation rates have been on the rise since 2019. If social media were so harmful to the district's educational efforts, the graduation rate would not be rising, he said.

The lawsuit centers on "how social media harms kids, and there might be evidence of that," said Eric Goldman. He is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law in Silicon¹⁰ Valley. "But there's also a lot of evidence that social media benefits teenagers and other kids."

The companies have said they take the safety of their users, especially kids, seriously. Some have introduced tools to make it easier for parents to know whom their children are contacting and have created mental health resources.

In 2021 Facebook records showed that the company knew its Instagram site harmed teenagers. The company's researchers documented increased body image issues and worsened eating disorders and suicidal thinking among teenage Instagram users.

Both cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle and are based on state public nuisance law. In Washington, public nuisance is generally defined as an act that endangers the safety or health of a large number of people.

Most famously, public nuisance claims helped bring a $246 billion settlement from the tobacco industry in 1998. But public nuisance law also has been a part of lawsuits seeking to hold oil companies responsible for climate change, the gun industry for gun violence, the pharmaceutical¹¹ industry for the opioid crisis and vaping companies for teen vaping.

Jolina Cuaresma is a lawyer with Common Sense Media, which aims to make media safer for children. She said she was excited to see a school district make a public nuisance claim against the tech companies.

"Folks have become tired waiting for Congress to do something," she said.

Words in This Story

lawsuit — n. a process by which a court of law makes a decision to end a disagreement between people or organizations

recommend — v. to say that something is good and deserves to be chosen

nuisance — n. a person, thing, or situation that is annoying or that causes trouble or problems

unprecedented — adj. not done or experienced before

amplify¹² — v. to increase the strength of

negative — n. harmful or bad

graduation — n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university

benefit — n. a good or helpful result or effect

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

8 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

11 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

12 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。