Durham Schools May Join Social Media Lawsuit Effort

Should Durham Public Schools join an effort to sue major social media companies like Meta, Google, ByteDance, and Snap over harmful impacts on students?

Board of Education members on Thursday are expected to hear from attorneys leading litigation against the owners of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, and could discuss approving a contingency fee retainer agreement.

“Peer-reviewed research has revealed that the social media products cause mental health issues in youths, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and eating disorders,” according to the DPS staff report. “These companies have designed their products to attract and addict teen and adolescent users, using targeted algorithms, constant notifications, insufficient parental controls, and endless scrolling, resulting in what the U.S. Surgeon General has described as ‘just not a fair fight’ between children and Big Tech.”

More than 1/3 of children ages 13-17 report using one of the companies’ applications “almost constantly,” the district said.

More than 200 U.S. school systems already filed suit. Durham could be among several filing in North Carolina, seeking to hold companies accountable for their roles in the youth mental-health crisis.

“The intent of the lawsuit would be to address the harmful impact of these products on students, to seek remedies under the law to protect students from these impacts, and to hold the social media companies accountable for these harms,” the staff report indicated.

DPS wouldn’t pay any out-of-pocket fees or expenses for participating in the case. The attorneys representing the district would be reimbursed from any monetary recovery received by DPS.

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