Why it matters: It seems that the two things taking up most of Meta's time these days are AI and lawsuits. In the case of the latter, the social media giant has just settled a major suit with a Kentucky school district over claims that it designs its products to be addictive, thereby directly harming children's mental health.
The lawsuit was brought by Breathitt County School District, a rural district in eastern Kentucky that serves about 1,600 students across six schools. It had been scheduled to go to trial on June 15 in federal court in Oakland, California, making it the first school district case of its kind set to reach a jury.
Breathitt accused Meta, YouTube, Snap, and TikTok of building platforms that keep young users hooked through features such as algorithmic recommendations, infinite scroll, and autoplay.
The district claimed the resulting anxiety, depression, self-harm, and classroom disruption forced schools to divert resources away from education and toward counseling, behavioral interventions, and crisis management.
The district had been seeking more than $60 million to fund a 15-year program designed to counteract the alleged damage caused by social media. It also wanted the court to force changes to reduce what it called addictive features on the companies' platforms.
The terms of Meta's settlement were not disclosed. YouTube, Snap, and TikTok had already settled their parts of the case earlier this month, leaving Meta as the last defendant standing until Thursday's agreement.
"We've resolved this case amicably," a Meta spokesperson said, adding that the company remains focused on Teen Accounts and parental controls.
The settlement only applies to Breathitt County, but the case carried wider importance because it was a test run for how juries might respond to similar arguments.
Around 1,200 school districts have filed related cases against major social media companies. There are more than 3,300 addiction-related claims pending in California state court, with another 2,400 cases in federal court.
"Our focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases," said attorneys for the school districts.
In March, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for misleading the public about platform safety and exposing children to harm, resulting in penalties totaling $375 million.
Around the same time, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing platforms harmful to young people, awarding $6 million to a woman who said she became addicted to the platforms as a child.