David vs. Goliath: School district sues web giants

The public school system of Seattle in the United States launched a lawsuit last Friday against several Internet giants, alleging that social networks “exploit” young people and harm their education as well as their mental health.

This lawsuit targets several social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, CNN Business reported.

The Seattle School District, which includes about 50,000 students, accused the companies of having “successfully tapped into the vulnerable brains of young people” to maximize their time spent on the platform, according to the American media. They would also prevent schools from “fulfilling their educational mission”.

According to the lawsuit, the actions put in place by these social networks would have “constituted a significant factor in the emergence of a mental health crisis among young people, which has been marked by increasingly high proportions of young people struggling with anxiety, depression, thoughts of self-harm and suicidal thoughts”.

The school district did not specify the amount of damages claimed.

The legal challenge comes a year after the platforms’ executives faced tough questions about the impact of their products on the mental health and body image of young users, especially teenage girls, in a series of congressional hearings.

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