(Bloomberg) -- The Seattle city school district filed a novel lawsuit blaming Big Tech for poisoning youth with social media addiction, saying the schools can’t fulfill their educational mission while students are suffering from anxiety, depression and other psychological troubles.
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Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok, are responsible for hooking young people on their platforms and creating a mental health crisis, according to the complaint filed late Friday in Seattle federal court. The district includes more than 100 schools and serves about 50,000 children.
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The suit appears to be the first of its kind in the US brought by a school district, following similar claims filed last year by scores of families, including more than a dozen blaming the tech companies for suicides.
The idea that social media companies shoulder responsibility for the potential damage their products cause to young people came to the fore late in 2021 when former Meta employee Frances Haugen revealed documents about its internal operations. Among Haugen’s allegations was a claim that the company was knowingly preying on vulnerable young people to boost profits. Congress held hearings and some state attorneys general launched investigations.
The companies’ front line of defense is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 1996 federal statute giving...
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