Social media companies to pay $27 million to settle 'teen mental health crisis suit' by US school district

The world's biggest social media platforms agreed to pay about $27 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a rural Kentucky school district that alleged their products are addictive and helped create a teen mental health crisis that drained school resources.

Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram and Facebook, is paying the school district $9 million, more than any of the other companies, according to documents released under the state's open records laws. Snap and TikTok each agreed to pay $8 million, the records show. Google's YouTube negotiated a payout of slightly more than $2 million, and was the only company that also agreed to provide the district with training programmes to help teachers better use its video product in classrooms.

The one-time payments add up to 8% more than Breathitt County School District's $25 million annual budget. The settlements, announced earlier this month but without financial details, allowed the companies to avert the first trial in the nation over a school district's complaint, which was scheduled for June 12 in a court in Oakland, California.

(This is a Bloomberg story)
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