Facebook., Google, TikTok and Snap will have to face lawsuits brought by school districts in federal court blaming their “addictive” apps for contributing to a mental health crisis among students. …
The ruling Thursday by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, follows a contrasting June 7 decision by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in favor of the companies. The split leaves the platforms potentially on the hook for damages in more than 150 cases before Rogers even as they’re poised to dodge liability for claims in more than 600 other cases filed in Los Angeles.
The companies also face significant exposure from hundreds of personal injury suits accusing them of designing their platforms to encourage youths to spend unhealthy amounts of time on screens. But the school cases may carry bigger potential monetary damages because each district seeks to recoup institutional costs from the negative repercussions of having hundreds of individual students hooked on social media.
Lexi Hazam and Previn Warren, lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, hailed the ruling as a victory “for schools, teachers, and administrators who are on the front lines of the nation’s youth mental health crisis.” The Los Angeles and Oakland judges are overseeing separate batches of personal injury suits by youths and families alleging that the social media companies are responsible for causing widespread psychological distress and even suicides.
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