Meta avoids landmark trial by reaching settlement with Kentucky school district
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What is the settlement that Meta reached with the Kentucky school district?
TIE kauniimpaan kotiin, vie idän kautta. Kauppakeskus Lanternasta löydät kiinnostavimmat huonekaluliikkeet, sisustuksen erikoiskauppoja sekä täyden valikoiman rautakaupan saman katon alta ja jopa 500 ilmaista parkkipaikkaa. Tervetuloa
Lanternaan! It's time now for our daily tech and business report. Meta has reached a settlement with a Kentucky school district after allegations that the company's social media platforms led to addiction, impacted learning and caused schools to expand, excuse me, expend large amounts of money to shore up students' mental health. For more on this, we're joined live on the KCBS Ring Central Newsline by Bloomberg's Olivia Carville. Olivia, thanks for your time. What can you tell us about this settlement?
Why did the federal trial against Meta get cancelled?
Well, this was going to be a landmark trial starting in federal court in California just next month. There were attorneys all over the country prepped and ready to go for what was bound to be a six to seven week trial. And as of today, Meta, which was the sole defendant standing, has now settled that case. So the Brithwick County School District, which was going up against these platforms, has settled against all four social media companies. So there's going to be no longer a federal trial starting next month.
Right. It was Alphabet, Google, TikTok and Snap, I believe. They already settled.
Which other social‑media companies settled their school‑district lawsuits before Meta?
And now the news is that Meta has also settled with the school districts. Correct.
That's correct. So these school districts, there's 1200 school districts across the country that had filed suit against those four companies, those four big social media platforms. Google's YouTube, Snap's Snapchat, TikTok, the video streaming platform, and Meta's platforms, which include Instagram and Facebook. Those four companies were going up against these 1,200 school districts. And the first school district case was set to go to trial next month, and that was Breathitt County School District, a small rural county school district in Kentucky that represents only 1,700 students. And everyone was ready to go for this trial.
What specific harms did the school districts allege were caused by social‑media platforms?
But the three defendants that you mentioned that snapped TikTok and YouTube settled last week. So Meta was going it alone. And today they settled that case as well. So all four defendants have settled against the school district now.
OK, so there's no no wrongdoing is admitted here. But what did the school districts allege?
The school districts alleged that social media had become addictive to their students, that it had really disrupted learning, that it had cost the schools a lot of money in counseling students who were suffering mental health issues connected to social media. Brithwick County actually suffered a lot of school vandalism connected to a TikTok viral challenge where students were vandalizing bathrooms.
Are the financial terms of Meta’s settlement disclosed and how much did the district claim to have spent?
pulling out the tissue paper, flooding the toilets, and trying to rip out the vanities, the sinks in those school bathrooms. That cost Brother County thousands of dollars, and they had to front up for those bills. And the schools also alleged kind of negligence. The platforms weren't warning them of the potential harm to the students. And, you know, these addictive properties, you know, of these algorithms, these engagement algorithms were really connecting students to the devices and trying to keep them glued for as long as possible. And schools were really feeling the impact of that as students were, you know, turning to their devices when they were supposed to be in class.
So in our last minute here, what do we know about the details of this settlement? What does Meta say it will do differently?
What does Meta say it will change after the settlement and what’s next for similar lawsuits?
And will there be any monetary payouts?
We know absolutely nothing about the terms of the settlement. They're confidential, unfortunately, so we don't know how much money these companies spent trying to settle these cases. We do know that Brithwick County had alleged that it spent around $2 million to $3 million in lost time damages. They've made those claims in court filings in the lead up to these settlements. But the companies all claim they're doing everything they can to protect young people, and this kind of litigation is really pushing them to do even more.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the settlement that Meta reached with the Kentucky school district?
0:00–0:48
2
Why did the federal trial against Meta get cancelled?
0:48–1:27
3
Which other social‑media companies settled their school‑district lawsuits before Meta?
1:27–2:12
4
What specific harms did the school districts allege were caused by social‑media platforms?
2:12–2:58
5
Are the financial terms of Meta’s settlement disclosed and how much did the district claim to have spent?
2:58–3:46
6
What does Meta say it will change after the settlement and what’s next for similar lawsuits?
3:46–4:31
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