In an interesting move, a US public school district in Seattle, Washington is suing several social media giants alleging they are causing mental distress, anxiety, and depression among children, Breitbart reports.
Included in the list of those being sued are the Chinese-owned TikTok, Facebook and Instagram which are owned by Meta, and also Snapchat, YouTube and Google.
In a statement explaining its action, the school board said that it wants to hold “‘social media companies accountable for the harm they have wreaked on the social, emotional, and mental health’ of students.”
“The increase in suicides, attempted suicides, and mental-health related emergency room visits is no coincidence,” the statement added.
The statement also alleged that Big Tech has manipulated, “the psychology and neurophysiology of their users so that they spend more and more time on their platforms…creating a mental health crisis among young Americans.”
READ: Big Tech sued by Seattle schools over mental health ‘crisis’
RELATED: Study: Social Media Causes Children to ‘Dislike Their Own Bodies’ AND Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show
However, if the school district is serious about looking for the causes of the mental health crisis among students, it may also consider suing the government and school officials who instituted the lockdowns and school closures because of COVID.
READ: Report: ‘Surge Of Student Suicides’ Forced Las Vegas School District To Return To In-Person Learning
READ: ‘It’s Really Hard To Cope’: Youth Suicides Skyrocket Nearly 90% In Wisconsin County
OpentheWord.org 