Snap, YouTube settle school social media suit ahead of trial

CALIFORNIA – Google’s YouTube and Snap reached agreements to settle the first lawsuit headed to trial over claims that addiction to top social media platforms has disrupted learning and pushed public schools to spend massive sums fighting a mental health crisis, according to court filings.

TikTok and Meta Platforms were also sued by the rural Kentucky school district that brought the case, which is set to go to trial on June 12 in federal court in Oakland, California. 

The trial will serve as a test case for more than 1,200 similar lawsuits nationwide in which school districts allege that the biggest social media companies have harmed students so badly that it’s undermining the education system.

The spate of lawsuits could open the tech companies to a “collective theoretical liability of almost US$400 billion (S$512 billion),” according to an estimate from Bloomberg Intelligence.

The terms of the settlements weren’t disclosed in May 15’s filings.

“For more than a decade, we’ve built YouTube responsibly – working with teachers, administrators, and parents’ groups to give students safer, more helpful experiences online,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

“This matter has been amicably resolved and our focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise.”

In a separate statement, a Snap spokesperson said the parties “are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner”. 

The settlements are the latest in what has been a busy year for child safety-related litigation.

TikTok and Snap previously settled a first-of-its-kind personal injury suit over social media addiction shortly before it went to trial in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Meta and Google didn’t settle, and a jury found them liable for harming a 20-year-old woman with products designed to be addictive. 

Meta also lost a separate case in New Mexico alleging the company failed to protect children from online predators; jurors assessed a penalty of US$375 million on Meta.

The four social media companies face thousands of additional lawsuits from school districts, state attorneys general and individual users. 

For Snap, the collection of lawsuits poses a serious financial threat.

The photo and messaging platform is far smaller than the other three companies under scrutiny, and recently saw its first user decline in years, which was at least partly due to growing regulatory backlash over child safety concerns.

For years, Snap has been on a campaign to distance itself from its larger competitors and has claimed that Snapchat is not social media, but an alternative to it. 

A trial against Meta in a case brought by dozens of state attorneys general is slated to begin in August, and a defeat for the company could force it to change how its products operate. BLOOMBERG