lake county florida – A Central Florida school district is suing multiple social media companies for creating a mental health crisis among children, forcing the district to spend money on the response.
The Lake County Board of Education is suing the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok, Google, and YouTube in federal court, accusing the companies of negligence and intentional and reckless conduct.
The suit accuses the companies of knowing how addictive their technology is and yet doing nothing to curb how young people use their platforms. In fact, they accuse companies of intentionally exploiting its addictive nature for profit.
“America’s children are the social media generation. Defendants realized that once they hooked a child, they would be stuck in their home for the rest of their lives.”For example, Instagram’s marketing strategy document states, “U.S. ‘If we lose our teen foothold, we lose our pipeline,”’ the school board’s lawyers wrote in a lawsuit filed this week.
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The complaint cites the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendations on how social media affects children’s mental health in 2023, stating that the companies exploited “children’s still-developing brains” They argue that this has contributed to the ongoing mental health crisis in the United States.
According to the complaint, the rate of children suffering from mental health issues parallels the increase in time spent on social media platforms. The district says it wants to get back the money it needs to spend on mental health services and other programs to support students and educate families about mental health and well-being.
According to Education Week , more than 200 school districts across the country are suing social media companies over the mental health crisis.
In addition to this, state and federal governments are considering ways to restrict the use of social media for children under the age of 16.
In Florida, a bill is moving through the state legislature that would ban children from having accounts on many of the most popular social media platforms.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis is concerned that the bill could be defeated in court on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment.
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