We are representing school districts across the country that have filed lawsuits against social media companies over the costs associated with supporting students’ increasing needs for mental, behavioral, and emotional health resources.
School districts are on the frontlines of a nationwide youth mental health crisis fueled by addictive social media products. With so many young people in turmoil, schools have been forced to divert crucial resources to help students in need of mental health services.
Social Media Addiction
American children and teenagers are facing an unprecedented mental health epidemic, with top researchers and government agencies observing a dramatic increase in youth mental health crises over the course of the last decade.
According to the most recent data from the CDC’s bi-annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, in 2021, 42% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, up from 28% in 2011.
This decline in youth mental health has been directly correlated with the widespread adoption of social media. The connection here is an overuse of social media caused by apps designed to addict kids.
Social media companies are intentionally designing their products to keep children engaged as long as possible and, in many cases, leading them to dangerous content affecting their mental health.
Teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of social media addiction, including depression, self-harm, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, and injury of suicide.
To seek justice and hold these social media giants accountable, we are now turning to our justice system to pressure social media companies to address the physical and psychological harm children have suffered as a result of social media addiction.
How We Can Help You
Social media companies including Meta, Google, ByteDance, and Snap, which own and operate the largest social media platforms in the world are facing wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits. This litigation is filed on behalf of minors affected by severe mental and physical harms caused by their products, including mental health problems, eating disorders, and suicide.
We are currently representing school districts in South Carolina and Maryland, including Harford County Public Schools. The lawsuits seek both monetary damages and injunctive relief, which would require social media companies to make changes to their addictive algorithms and other adjustments to the designs of their products.
BMBF attorneys are reviewing these accusations to help support impacted children, families, and schools in their search for answers. BMBF is prepared to help hold social media companies accountable.
In the News
Maryland
- The Daily Record | Anne Arundel joins parade of school districts suing social media giants
- Capital Gazette | Anne Arundel school board joins lawsuit against social media companies, alleging a role in youth mental health crisis | The Anne Arundel County Board of Education filed a lawsuit last month against social media groups Meta, Google, ByteDance and Snap Inc., alleging that their social media platforms have contributed to a growing mental health crisis among the system’s 85,000 students.
- CBS Baltimore | Howard County schools sue social media companies over impact to student mental health | Howard County Public Schools has filed a lawsuit against several social media companies, alleging their products are detrimental to its student body’s mental health, a spokesperson for the district said Friday.
- NBC 4 | Prince George’s Schools Sue Social Media Companies Over Mental Health Effects | Prince George’s County Public Schools are suing a collection of social media giants over what they describe as sites’ negative effects on students’ mental health.
- WBOC | Somerset County Public Schools join in national lawsuit against social media | Somerset County Public Schools has filed a lawsuit against social media giants Meta, Google, ByteDance, Snap Inc., and TikTok.
- WMAR 2 News | Wicomico County Public Schools Vs The State of Social Media | Since the chatrooms of the 90s, limited to an interface with only usernames and colored font, morphed into My Space and Facebook, the internet has become the Wild West.
North Carolina
- Fox News | Social media giants like TikTok, YouTube fuel ‘youth mental health crisis,’ school boards claim in lawsuit | More than 200 school boards across the country have joined a lawsuit against four tech giants, arguing that their social media companies have fueled today’s “unprecedented mental health crisis” among U.S. youth, according to the complaint and an attorney representing one of those school boards.
- WCNC Charlotte | CMS sues social media companies | Charlotte Mecklenburg School leaders are suing major social media companies over the impact of their products on the mental health of students.
- Queen City News | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools joins nationwide suit against social media giants | Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has joined a national lawsuit against social media giants like Meta and TikTok for harming youth mental health, district leaders announced Friday.
- The Charlotte Observer | NC schools sue social media companies for exploiting ‘addictive nature’ of platforms
- ABC 45 News | Twelve North Carolina school districts join nationwide suits against several social media corporations | 12 North Carolina School Districts are filing lawsuits against several social media giants, joining a nationwide movement targeting these tech companies’ products and their influence on children.
- Fox 8 | Rockingham County Schools joins national lawsuit against social media companies over youth mental health crisis | Rockingham County Schools announced that the school district will be joining a nationwide lawsuit against several major social media platforms and the damage they cause to children’s mental health.
- Fox 8 News | Another North Carolina school district files lawsuit against social media companies | Wake County Public Schools are taking part in a lawsuit against multiple social media companies that are accused of exploiting children nationwide, the school district announced on Tuesday.
- ABC 11 | Wake County school board joins lawsuit against social media giants | The Wake County Board of Education voted Tuesday night to join in filing a lawsuit against several social media companies, claiming that the digital giants have played a major role in a mental health crisis affecting students in the state’s largest school system and across the country.
- CBS 17 | Wake County schools filing lawsuit against social media companies for effects on youth mental health [Broadcast]
- The News Observer | Wake schools to sue social media companies for ‘addicting’ young people
- WRAL | Wake schools will join lawsuit against social media companies over student mental health | Wake County’s school board will join a lawsuit against social media companies, arguing that schools have had to handle the fallout of psychological damage caused by their apps.
South Carolina
WIS 10 | 8 SC school districts sue tech giants over social media’s effects on students’ mental health | Several school districts in the Palmetto State have joined a national lawsuit against tech giants regarding social media and how it correlates to students’ mental health.
