Seattle Public School District Files Lawsuit to Hold Big Tech Accountable for Mental Health Crisis
By Movieguide® Staff
On Friday, Seattle Public School District officials filed a lawsuit against big tech companies over the mental health crisis plaguing young social media users.
The lawsuit alleges that the tech company’s social media platforms, such as TikTok and Facebook, “curate… harmful and exploitative” content to youth.
“Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants’ social media platforms,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit claims that the mental health issues of students, which are reflected in poor grades, substance abuse, and skipping class, is a result of the social media’s promotion of anxiety and depression-inducing content—which “directly affects Seattle Public School’s ability to fulfill its educational mission.”
The Daily Wire reported:
District officials further argued in the lawsuit that the state of children’s mental health led the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association to declare a national emergency and the U.S. Surgeon General to issue an advisory “to highlight the urgent need to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis.”
“It has become increasingly clear that many children are burdened by mental health challenges,” Brent Jones, the District Superintendent told The Daily Mail. “Our students — and young people everywhere — face unprecedented, learning and life struggles that are amplified by the negative impacts of increased screen time, unfiltered content, and potentially addictive properties of social media.”
The lawsuit’s aim is to hold social media platforms and their parent companies accountable for the mental health of students.
“The increase in suicides, attempted suicides, and mental-health related emergency room visits is no coincidence,” another statement reads.
José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, the parent company to YouTube, said that they offer tools to help parents limit children’s time online.
“We have invested heavily in creating safe experiences for children across our platforms and have introduced strong protections and dedicated features to prioritize their well being,” Castañeda told the Daily Mail.
The lawsuit adds that they are not making allegations in regards to third-party actions on the social media sites—which remains protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—but against the company’s actions themselves.
“Plaintiff is not alleging Defendants are liable for what third-parties have said on Defendants’ platforms but, rather, for Defendants’ own conduct,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendants affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as pro-anorexia and eating disorder content.”
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