Lawsuit alleges negligent misconduct for causing a mental health crisis among youth
SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Frantz Law Group announces that the Montgomery County Public School District joined 500 school districts nationwide in a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco against Meta, TikTok, Snap, YouTube, and other social media companies. In the lawsuit the plaintiff school districts allege that these companies are knowingly causing emotional harm to children through their platforms.
With over 160,550 students in 210 schools, the Montgomery County Public School District is the largest school district in the state of Maryland. The lawsuit alleges that various social media companies have caused a mental and emotional health crisis marked by higher proportions of anxiety, depression, thoughts of self-harm, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, and low self-esteem among children and students. Many are further subjected to often harmful, exploitative and addictive content that encourages disorderly behavior, unhealthy social comparison, and cyberbullying. This litigation seeks to provide the funding and staffing resources needed to mitigate the damage that school districts are currently encountering.
In May of this year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, in which he states, “…there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health.” The Advisory cites research finding that one-third or more of girls aged 11-15 say they feel “addicted” to certain social media platforms, that 46% of adolescents aged 13-17 said social media makes them feel worse, and that 64% of adolescents are “often” or “sometimes” exposed to hate-based content through social media. The Advisory also points to studies that show “a relationship between social media use and poor sleep quality, reduced sleep duration, sleep difficulties, and depression among youth.”
Moreover, in October 2021, former Meta employee Frances Haugen testified before Congress that Meta’s own internal research indicated how harmful their products are to the mental health of child users and, in particular, teenage girls.
About Frantz Law Group, APLC
Frantz Law Group is an award-winning personal injury, wrongful death, catastrophic injury, trucking litigation, mass torts, and class action law firm that has been serving clients for over 43 years. The firm has secured over 60 multimillion-dollar individual settlements and has helped secure several multibillion-dollar settlements with co-counsel that has benefited thousands of FLG clients (case results depend on their specific facts).
Frantz Law Group successfully represents nearly 1,000 school districts in 38 states with respect to the anti-vaping JUUL litigation. Despite the proposed partial settlement with JUUL Labs, Inc., Frantz Law Group continues its litigation against Altria and other defendants responsible for causing the vaping epidemic.
Frantz Law Group has been ranked Tier 1 in U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” from 2010-2023 for mass tort litigation/class actions – plaintiffs. James P. Frantz is a fellow and associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, is a 20-year Special Master appointed by the State Bar of California and a 20-year Master in The Enright Chapter, American Inns of Court. For more information, please visit https://www.frantzlawgroup.com
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