Seattle Schools suing several major social media companies for creating apps that it claims exploit children and contribute to a “youth mental health crisis.” For their roles in the allegations, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Instagram, and their parent company Meta, as well as Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and others.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, claims that the rapid growth of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok is the result of designs and operations that “exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users.” “Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth,” the complaint says, adding that their “misconduct has been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis.”
