Meta has recently settled a lawsuit filed by the Breathitt County School District in Kentucky. The suit, initiated in 2024, sought $60 million. The specific terms of this settlement were not disclosed.
In addition to Meta, Snap, and ByteDance (the owner of TikTok) have also agreed to settle a separate lawsuit. This lawsuit accused the platforms of causing addiction and disrupting learning. The allegations also included forcing schools to spend large sums on student mental health support.
For Meta, hundreds of other pending cases from states and school districts remain. The company is expected to face another trial involving Tucson’s Unified School District in Arizona, which is set to begin in January.
The Breathitt County School District initially accused the tech firms of failing to implement robust age-verification processes and effective parental controls. They also alleged the platforms did not implement opt-in restrictions on usage length or frequency. Furthermore, the district accused the companies of using algorithms designed to promote addictive engagement.
These alleged issues led the schools to claim staff had to spend time confiscating cell phones and hiring additional staff for student mental health and counseling.
Following the settlement with the Breathitt County School District, YouTube stated to Reuters that the matter was amicably resolved. YouTube also noted that the company’s focus remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls. Snap provided a similar statement.
The news of these settlements follows other legal developments. Earlier in January, Snap and TikTok settled another addiction-focused case involving a 20-year-old California woman. In a separate incident in March, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for violating state consumer protection laws related to child sexual exploitation. That jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million, a ruling which Meta is currently appealing. Additionally, in March, Meta and Google took a case to court where the woman in question was awarded $6 million in damages.