Social Media Giants Prevent Addiction Complaints from School Districts

(Bloomberg) — Meta Platforms Inc. and other social media companies won dismissals of new claims in hundreds of lawsuits filed by school districts seeking to recover costs for addressing the negative impacts of students’ social media use.

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A California state judge sided with Meta, Snap Inc., TikTok Inc. and Google LLC on Friday in rejecting the districts’ claims that social media has increased the cost of education because it makes students more distracted and disruptive. , increasing the need for classroom discipline, staff training, and communication with parents.

The cases are among hundreds in state and federal courts alleging that social media platforms are designed to be addictive and dangerous for young people.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl wrote that there must be limits on liability — otherwise any company could be held liable when it inflicts “emotional harm” on individuals and then causes those individuals to “act out.”

“A restaurant owner who negligently sold spoiled food to a restaurant would be liable to the person who was later run over by the restaurant’s car, as the restaurant’s poor driving may have resulted from suffering under the effects of food poisoning,” he said. Kuhl in his decision.

Schools crack down on big tech: public nuisance theory explained

School districts alleged that the companies designed their platforms to hook young users through algorithms and features like the “like” button in ways that harm society — similar to cigarette manufacturers who designed their products to be addictive. They also alleged that they spent “significant resources” dealing with the fallout from social media, including challenges circulated on the platforms that allegedly encouraged students to damage school property.

Social media companies responded that they could not be held responsible for content posted by third parties.

“We believe the court made the right decision in this decision,” Meta said in a statement. “Meta is committed to supporting young people and their families and we will continue to defend ourselves against any cases that claim otherwise.”

Representatives for Google, TikTok and Snap did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As of May 9, cases pending before Kuhl in the so-called Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings included 617 plaintiffs from school districts in 34 states, according to a court document. Kuhl heard arguments last month from four school districts acting as test plaintiffs to bring claims common to the broader litigation.

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“The school district plaintiffs are disappointed with the court’s decision and are evaluating all appeal options,” according to a statement issued by the districts’ top attorneys. “However, this decision affects a limited number of school plaintiffs in the JCCP, and attorneys will continue to vigorously litigate claims on behalf of school districts with active cases in the JCCP.”

School districts have already faced great difficulties using the public nuisance legal theory that they have successfully employed against vape pen sellers because the districts themselves do not suffer from social media addiction, nor does the addiction harm them physically, Kuhl wrote.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, the federal liability shield that protects online publishers from content-based lawsuits, is too powerful to allow the new twist on common law to proceed, she argued.

Expanding the public nuisance theory to allow school districts to sue despite being “indirectly affected by the negative consequences of social media for young people would create a wide net of undetermined liability that the common law has thus far refused to impose,” he wrote. Kuhl.

A federal judge in Oakland who oversees hundreds of other cases recently held a hearing on the same issues and is expected to rule soon.

How Lawsuits Seek to Make Social Media Safer for Kids: QuickTake

Judges in Los Angeles and Oakland are also overseeing personal injury lawsuits brought by young people and families alleging that social media companies are responsible for causing widespread psychological distress and even suicides. The judges allowed some lawsuits to be pursued against the companies while rejecting others. The companies have denied any wrongdoing, saying they have taken steps to keep young users safe on the platforms.

The state case is Social Media Cases JCCP 22STCV21355, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

(Updates with judge’s reasoning)

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