The Guardian | Meta settles major social media addiction lawsuit with school district by Dara Kerr

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Meta has agreed to settle a high‑profile lawsuit brought by a small Kentucky school district that accused the company’s Facebook and Instagram platforms of being deliberately engineered to be addictive and to cause anxiety, depression and self‑harm among students. The settlement, reached just weeks before a scheduled federal trial in California, concludes one of roughly 1,200 lawsuits filed by school districts across the United States against Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube over alleged contributions to a youth mental‑health crisis; TikTok, Snap and YouTube have already settled similar claims. While Meta did not disclose the settlement terms, a spokesperson said the company remains focused on safeguards such as Teen Accounts and parental controls. The Kentucky case had sought more than $60 million in damages and a court order to alter the platforms’ design, and the broader litigation continues with additional trials slated for July and a future school‑district case in Tucson in 2027. The settlement follows earlier landmark verdicts that held Meta and YouTube liable for deliberately creating addictive products, awarding $6 million to a plaintiff in Los Angeles and $375 million in civil penalties in a New Mexico case—first rulings to find social‑media firms responsible for harms to children, echoing historic tobacco litigation.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/21/meta-social-media-addiction-kentucky-schools

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