Seattle schools sue tech giants over social media harm | Tech News

Seattle schools sue tech giants over social media harm

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

By:AP
| Updated on: Jan 09 2023, 07:19 IST
Instagram users can share stories on Close Friends list; check steps here
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1/8 If you are an Instagram user and are not comfortable in sharing your images, videos, among others with all via Instagram stories then you can create a Close Friends list and share your story with only the people on that list. It can also be known that with stories, you can share photos and videos that disappear from your profile, feed and messages after 24 hours, unless you add them to your profile as story highlights. (Pixabay)
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2/8 It can be noted that people on your Close Friends list will know they are on it, but they can't see who else is on the list. Only you can see your close friends list, and no one can request to be added. (AP)
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3/8 If someone has added you to their list, you will see a green badge when you're viewing their stories and a green ring around their profile photo. So, here are the steps you need to follow to create your close friends list: (Pexels)
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4/8 If you are an Instagram user and are not comfortable in sharing your images, videos, among others with all via Instagram stories then you can create a Close Friends list and share your story with only the people on that list. It can also be known that with stories, you can share photos and videos that disappear from your profile, feed and messages after 24 hours, unless you add them to your profile as story highlights. (Pixabay)
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5/8 It can be noted that people on your Close Friends list will know they are on it, but they can't see who else is on the list. Only you can see your close friends list, and no one can request to be added. (AP)
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6/8 If someone has added you to their list, you will see a green badge when you're viewing their stories and a green ring around their profile photo. So, here are the steps you need to follow to create your close friends list: (Pexels)
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7/8 Instagram: How to create Close Friends list- Tap profile or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile. Then click at the top right, then tap Close Friends. Scroll down to Suggestions (Android) or Suggested (iPhone). Tap Add next to the people who you want to add to your Close Friends list. You can also tap Search to search for a friend. (Pixabay)
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8/8 Instagram: How to share a story with your close friends list- Tap at the top or swipe right anywhere in feed, then scroll to Story at the bottom. Then click at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or tap and hold to record a video. To choose a photo from your phone's library or gallery, swipe up anywhere on the screen. When you are ready to share, tap Close Friends in the bottom left. (REUTERS)
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It blames social media apps for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders, making it more difficult to educate students. (AP)

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

Seattle Public Schools filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court. The 91-page complaint says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children.

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It blames them for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders including anxiety, depression, disordered eating and cyberbullying; making it more difficult to educate students; and forcing schools to take steps such as hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media, and providing additional training to teachers.

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“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 complaint said. “Worse, the content Defendants curate and direct to youth is too often harmful and exploitive ....”

While federal law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — helps protect online companies from liability arising from what third-party users post on their platforms, the lawsuit argues that provision does not protect the tech giants' behavior in this case.

“Plaintiff is not alleging Defendants are liable for what third-parties have said on Defendants' platforms but, rather, for Defendants' own conduct,” the lawsuit said. “Defendants affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as pro-anorexia and eating disorder content.”

In emailed statements Sunday, Google and Snap said they had worked to protect young people who use their platforms.

Snap launched an in-app support system called Here For You in 2020, to help those who might be having a mental health or emotional crisis find expert resources, and it also has enabled settings that allow parents to see whom their children contact on Snapchat, though not the content of those messages. It also has recently expanded content about the new 988 suicide and crisis phone system in the U.S.

"We will continue working to make sure our platform is safe and to give Snapchatters dealing with mental health issues resources to help them deal with the challenges facing young people today,” the company said in a written statement.

José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said Google, which owns YouTube, had also given parents the ability to set reminders, limit screen time and block certain types of content on their children's devices.

“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 said.

Meta and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit says that from 2009 to 2019, there was on average a 30% increase in the number of Seattle Public Schools students who reported feeling “so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row" that they stopped doing some typical activities.

The school district is asking the court to order the companies to stop creating the public nuisance, to award damages, and to pay for prevention education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media.

While hundreds of families are pursuing lawsuits against the companies over harms they allege their children have suffered from social media, it's not clear if any other school districts have filed a complaint like Seattle's.

Internal studies revealed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 showed that the company knew that Instagram negatively affected teenagers by harming their body image and making eating disorders and thoughts of suicide worse. She alleged that the platform prioritized profits over safety and hid its own research from investors and the public.

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First Published Date: 09 Jan, 07:18 IST
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