Seattle School District Sues Social Networks for Youth ‘Mental Health Crisis’

A Seattle public school district is suing some of the top social media platforms for allegedly creating and cultivating a “mental health crisis among America’s youth.”

Meta, Snap, ByteDance, and Alphabet are among the named defendants in a 92-page lawsuit (PDF(Opens in a new window)) filed on Friday in a Seattle US District Court.

Seattle School District No. 1, located in King County, Washington, claims Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), TikTok parent company ByteDance, Snap (maker of Snapchat), and Alphabet subsidiary YouTube intentionally prey on teens to profit off advertising.

“Defendants have maximized the time users—particularly youth—spend on their platforms by purposely designing, refining, and operating them to exploit the neurophysiology of the brain’s reward systems to keep users coming back, coming back frequently, and staying on the respective platforms for as long as possible,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit cites various studies about the effects of social media on developing brains, and discusses how these social networks have impacted students in King County—part of the largest public school district in Washington State.

“There has been a surge in the proportion of youth in [the local] community who say they cannot stop or control their anxiety, who feel so sad and hopeless that they stop doing the activities that they used to love, who are considering suicide, who made plans to commit suicide, and who have attempted to commit suicide.” The pandemic, which allowed folks more time to peruse social media, allegedly “intensified the crisis,” the suit says.

As a result, Seattle School District No. 1 is suing Meta, Snap, ByteDance, and Alphabet for violations of the Washington public nuisance law. It has requested a jury trial to stop defendants from “engaging in further actions causing or contributing to” said public nuisance, and receive compensatory and statutory damages.

Seattle isn’t the first state to target social media: Amid heavy lobbying pressure from major tech firms, California lawmakers in August killed a bill that would hold companies responsible for harming children who become addicted to their products.

But while parents worry for their children’s mental health, a recent Pew Research Center survey suggests a majority of kids turn to social networking sites to feel more connected with friends, showcase their creativity, and build peer support groups. A third of participants even said social media is “mostly positive,” while only 9% fell on the opposite end of the spectrum.

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