School Districts Across State Being Invited to Join Suit Against Meta, Others
RISON - The Cleveland School Board voted not to join a lawsuit alleging that Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and other social media companies designed addictive features in their platforms that fueled a mental health crisis among youth that caused schools to divert funds to address the student mental health issues that followed.
Superintendent Davy King told the school board during its regular monthly meeting last week that districts across the state have been invited to join in a national lawsuit against the social media companies. He said that decision is up to the school board.
The national lawsuit comes after the Breathitt County School District in rural Kentucky received a settlement of $27 million to $30 million from the social media defendants, according to media reports. Meta agreed to pay $9 million to resolve its portion of the case before it was scheduled to go to trial in June.
Breathitt County School District has about 1,700 students.
King explained that there is no risk and no money involved to join. He said the district could get “a sum of money” out of from the lawsuit if a settlement is ever reached, but he did not estimate how much if the case is successful.
The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Farmington, West Fork, Decatur, Nashville and Camden Fairview school districts have joined the lawsuit.
While not directly related to the school district lawsuits, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced in August that he and 50 other attorneys general had reached a settlement with Meta resolving litigation regarding the safety of children while using Meta’s platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Griffin said the settlement stems from a lawsuit he filed against Meta in March 2023 for violations of a state Deceptive Trade Practices Act for misleading minors and their parents about the addictive nature of its platforms’ algorithms. He said Arkansas was the first state to file…