The Old Forge School District joined a growing number of districts locally and nationwide suing multiple social media giants, alleging the companies have fueled a mental health crisis, disrupting education and resulting in a spike anxiety, depression and self-harm among students.
The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District court, alleges the owners of Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok, YouTube, Snap Chat and other social media platforms failed to implement appropriate guardrails, while continuing to reap massive profits.
“Identifying minors as easy prey, and recognizing the huge financial upside of capturing their attentions, the defendants set their sights on the vulnerable, still-developing brains of minors to make them chronically habitual users of their social media platforms,” the suit alleges.
“The defendants’ success is readily apparent; just look at millions of youth currently hooked on social media, forever gazing down at their cellphones, trapped in endless ‘feedback loops’ and manipulated by a host of other algorithmically driven social media platforms.”
According to a 2023 survey of Old Forge School District students, 22% of sixth graders admitted to “cutting” behaviors, along with 23% of their eighth grade counterparts. That same year, 35% of sixth and eighth graders, 20% of the tenth grade class and 42% of the senior class struggled with depression.
Numbers which the suit describes as “shocking.”
Over half of students in those grades admitted to having been subject to cyberbullying, with some engaging in self-harm as a result.
The suit requests “immediate funding” to deal with depression, anxiety and learning lag resulting from students’ addiction to social media.
The lawsuit requests the court direct the social media platforms admit their actions were negligent and created a public nuisance.
The district is also requesting compensative and punitive damages, in addition to the cost of litigation.
Representing the district in the lawsuit are attorneys Richard Rinaldi, of Clarks Summit, and David Solfanelli, of Old Forge.
Other area school districts including Carbondale Area, Hazleton, Hanover Area, Crestwood, Berwick, Pittston Area and Bloomsburg have filed similar lawsuits against the social media giants, consolidating their suits with ongoing litigation in California Northern District with other entities making similar claims.
The social media giants responded to the lawsuit indicating that the behavior of the students cannot be directly linked to their use of social media, court filings in that case show.
Plaintiffs in that case have listed dozens of school officials as potential witnesses, in addition to Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook and the CEO and controlling shareholder of Meta Platforms, Inc.
The trial in that California-based case is expected to begin this summer.