Lake County school district joins lawsuit against Meta, Tiktok, Youtube

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Another Central Florida school district is taking a stance against major social media companies. Lake County just joined a multi-district lawsuit, alongside Volusia County and hundreds of other school districts across the country.

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In this more than 100-page lawsuit, the Lake County school district filed against all the major players -- Meta aka Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Google and YouTube.

It’s calling them all a public nuisance, blaming them for harming their mental health and impacting behavioral disorders like anxiety, depression, eating disorders and cyberbullying.

It says this is all making it more difficult to teach in classrooms.

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Lawyers are citing this study by Pew Research Center that found nearly half of teenagers surveyed never stop being on social media, admitting that they are so addicted, they stay connected almost constantly.

The lawsuit said, in return for the negligence and misconduct, the district wants money to fund treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media and prevention education, along with relief for the damages cost thus far.

This lawsuit comes just two weeks after parents traveled to DC, where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg and most of the same companies named in the district’s suit defended their company’s policies of protecting children from sexual exploitation and helping young people easily report unwelcome conversations.

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At one point, Zuckerburg addressed the parents who brought pictures of their children who have been impacted in some way by social media.

Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also announced more than 60 senators are now co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill dubbed “the online safety act,” it would bring big changes to the digital platforms, including more options to disconnect from the apps and gives parents better tools to monitor their kids’ activity online.

It’s important to note -- these types of lawsuits rarely succeed because of a federal law dating back decades, called “Section 230.” it shields tech companies from liability for content people post on their platforms.

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