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Mounting Lawsuits Claim Social Media Giants Are Harming Youth

Mounting Lawsuits Claim Social Media Giants Are Harming Youth

A growing number of school districts, parents, and advocacy groups across the United States are filing lawsuits against major social media companies—including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat—alleging that their platforms are causing measurable harm to children and teens. The lawsuits claim these companies knowingly design addictive features that exploit developing brains, increase mental health issues, and contribute to a youth mental health crisis.

Dozens of school districts, including Seattle Public Schools and others in California, Oregon, and New Jersey, have joined the wave of legal action. They allege that tech companies created platforms that prioritize user engagement over safety and have effectively turned young users into experimental subjects. According to the lawsuits, these platforms have led to increased anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and even suicidal ideation in students.

One of the central claims is that these platforms deploy algorithms engineered to capture and retain the attention of minors using tactics like infinite scrolling, push notifications, and emotionally charged content loops. The legal filings argue that these features act similarly to addictive substances, creating a dependency that is particularly dangerous for developing minds.

Seattle Public Schools was one of the first districts to take a stand. In its 2023 lawsuit, the district claimed it had seen a significant rise in mental health issues among students, which strained its counseling and intervention resources. The suit seeks monetary damages to fund expanded mental health programs and calls for greater accountability from tech firms.

Social media companies have responded by stating that they provide tools for parental oversight and are actively working on features that promote safer usage among minors. Meta, for instance, launched new parental supervision options and age-appropriate content filters, while TikTok has instituted screen time limits for younger users. Critics argue these efforts are too little, too late.

Legal experts suggest these cases could break new ground in tech industry accountability. While Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act typically shields platforms from liability for user-generated content, some plaintiffs argue that the design of the platforms themselves—particularly algorithmic amplification and engagement mechanisms—should fall outside that protection.

If successful, the lawsuits could result in significant financial settlements and potentially force a redesign of platform features targeting youth. Additionally, legislation may follow, aimed at regulating the way social media companies interact with underage users.

Mental health organizations have thrown their support behind the plaintiffs. The American Psychological Association and the U.S. Surgeon General have both issued warnings about the impact of excessive social media use on youth mental well-being. School officials and parents alike are demanding not only compensation but systemic change.

The lawsuits are still in their early stages, but momentum is building. With more districts joining the effort each month, social media giants may soon face a legal reckoning over the role their platforms play in shaping the mental health of the next generation.

Meta Is the Latest Company To Cut Its Workforce

With a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the economy, many companies, particularly those in the tech sector, have been trying to reduce their overhead expenses. Now, it appears that Meta, the company that most people know as Facebook, is joining this group. Recently, Meta announced that it was undergoing a restructuring, and it was cutting 10,000 jobs in the process. In addition, the company announced that 5,000 vacancies that had not yet been filled would remain unfilled. This follows a round of cuts that took place in November, where the company laid off approximately 11,000 people. In total, it is believed that these layoffs represent somewhere between 15 and 25 percent of the company.

In filings with the SEC, the company announced that it had lowered its expenses from approximately $92 billion to approximately $86 billion. Shares of the company’s stock rose more than five percent in response to the news. Zuckerberg said that this further proves that the company is dedicated to making 2023 a year of efficiency. The goal is to make the organization stronger and more nimble, even while cutting jobs.

The organization is also finding other ways to cut its resource use to remain more nimble. For example, he announced that the company would be evaluating many of its projects to see which ones aren’t performing in an effort to further cut expenses.

This is not the only company in the sector cutting jobs. Some of the other companies that are cutting their employees include Amazon, Dell, Zoom, and Google. Many other companies have already slashed their workforces in an effort to reduce their overhead expenses.

There are many reasons why these companies are scaling back their workforces, and many of these have to do with advising interest rates. These companies are going to have a difficult time borrowing money to fund new projects, particularly with interest rates as high as they are. In addition, as consumers change their spending habits in response to higher interest rates, these companies may be anticipating reduced sales, so they are trying to reduce their overhead expenses as well by cutting the amount of money they spend on jobs. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Questions about whether Mark Zuckerburg will have to Answer Questions under Oath

Facebook has spent a lot of time in the spotlight recently, and the Attorney General’s office in Washington DC is arguing that the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, should be forced to answer questions related to Facebook’s privacy laws.

A lawsuit was filed against Facebook by the city in 2018. Since that time, Facebook has rebranded itself to Meta Platforms, but the lawsuit remains. According to recent filings related to the lawsuit, Facebook has not taken adequate steps to provide Zuckerberg for deposition even though a District of Columbia Superior Court judge has allowed for Zuckerburg to be questioned pursuant to an order issued on January 10th.

In contrast, lawyers for Zuckerburg have asked the judge to block Zuckerberg’s deposition. The request was filed on the first of February, and it claims that he has no unique information to offer. The request further alleges that the deposition is a transparent attempt to harass the CEO.

Ultimately, this latest battle in the lawsuit is a representation of the greater issue that the lawsuit addresses. Currently, there is an “apex doctrine” in place, which states that high-level executives could be shielded from certain elements of a lawsuit if they did not have direct control of the information directly addressed in the lawsuit. It appears that Zuckerburg’s lawyers are trying to use this very doctrine in an effort to save him from having to answer questions under oath.

The original element of the lawsuit accuses Facebook, which now goes by the name Meta, of misleading its users about who had access to certain pieces of personal data. In 2018, the popular technology company came under fire because a consulting firm based in the United Kingdom, Cambridge Analytica, deceived consumers about the information that it was collecting from the users on the social network.

Attorneys representing Washington DC state that they want to talk to Mark Zuckerberg to learn more about what he knew about the actions taken by Cambridge Analytica, steps the company takes to figure out what its partners and users are doing, and what actions (or inaction) the company took to prevent information of its private users from being stolen. It will be interesting to see if Mark Zuckerberg ever has to answer questions under oath.