Meta settles social media addiction case with US school district

The trial had been set as a test case for 1200 other school districts making similar claims.

Meta agreed to settle a major lawsuit on Thursday with a school district in Kentucky over claims that its social networks are designed to be addictive, leading to harm in children.

Meta has settled the first of many lawsuits brought by school districts across the country that sued social media companies seeking compensation for costs they say they incurred dealing with children’s social media addiction and mental health harms.

A lawsuit filed by Breathitt County Schools against Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, was resolved Thursday, May 21.

Meta has settled a major lawsuit with a Kentucky school district over claims that it designs its products to be addictive, thereby directly harming children's mental health.

Meta has reached a settlement with a US school district which had sued the Instagram-owner over the costs of fighting a mental health crisis allegedly caused by the company's social media platforms.