MONITORING DESK
ISLAMABAD: The Seattle city school district in Washington state of the United States has sued tech giants for poisoning youth with social media addiction, arguing that the schools can’t fulfil their educational objectives while students are suffering from anxiety, depression, and other psychological troubles.
The 90-page lawsuit filed in US District Court in Seattle blamed Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok, of hooking young people on their platforms and substantially contributing to a youth mental health crisis, reported Bloomberg.
Social media use behind mental health issues in youth: lawsuit
The complaint alleged that social media firms intentionally market, design, and operate their platforms to maximize engagement from young users in order to gain profit. It also cited research that linked social media use to mental and behavioral disorders including depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and cyberbullying. It said that the mental health crisis was no accident but the outcome of the “Defendants’ deliberate choices and affirmative actions to design and market their social media platforms to attract youth.”
The lawsuit accused the tech companies of violating Washington’s public nuisance law and said that SPS seeks “the maximum statutory and civil penalties permitted by law.” Claiming that school districts are “uniquely harmed” by the youth mental health crisis, the lawsuit argued that SPS has had to divert resources as well as spend additional resources on different measures like hiring counsellors, training teachers on mental health problems, and educating students on the risks of social media platforms.
The Seattle city school district includes over 100 schools and serves about 50,000 children.
The lawsuit appears to be the first of its kind in the US brought by a school district. Similar claims were filed last year by a large number of families, including more than a dozen blaming the tech firms for suicides.
