{"id":18790,"date":"2026-05-24T16:47:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T16:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/meta-settles-first-lawsuit-over-harm-to-childrens-mental-health-jurist-org\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T16:47:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T16:47:03","slug":"meta-settles-first-lawsuit-over-harm-to-childrens-mental-health-jurist-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/meta-settles-first-lawsuit-over-harm-to-childrens-mental-health-jurist-org\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta settles first lawsuit over harm to children\u2019s mental health &#8211; Jurist.org"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has <a href=https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/USCOURTS-cand-4_22-md-03047\/pdf\/USCOURTS-cand-4_22-md-03047-127.pdf>settled<\/a> its first national case with a school district over harm to children\u2019s mental health.\u00a0 The terms of the <a href=\"https:\/\/today.westlaw.com\/Document\/Ib6bd5990553b11f1b883ada27c55b968\/View\/FullText.html?transitionType=CategoryPageItem&amp;contextData=(sc.Default)&amp;firstPage=true&amp;OWSessionId=0737775f475343dcbfa0bfae609a7e31&amp;skipAnonymous=true&amp;bhcp=1\">settlement<\/a> with Breathitt County School District in eastern Kentucky are confidential. However, the district initially <a href=https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/meta-settles-first-us-case-over-school-costs-tied-youth-mental-health-court-2026-05-21\/ >sought<\/a> over $60 million to cover the costs of treating the injuries caused by Meta\u2019s products and to pay for a \u200b15-year mental health program.\u00a0 The school district also asked the court to order Meta to reduce the addictive features of its products.<br \/>Breathitt accused Meta of designing their platforms to addict children, causing anxiety, depression, and self-harm.\u00a0 Co-defendants Snap, YouTube, and TikTok <a href=https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/meta-settles-lawsuit-that-claimed-social-media-addiction-screwed-up-schools-2000762184>settled<\/a> their parts of the case earlier this month.<br \/>Breathitt is a small rural school district that serves about 1,600 students in six schools.\u00a0 About 1,200 other school districts, including the Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Public Schools, have filed similar suits.\u00a0 Breathitt\u2019s case, <em>In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction\/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3047<\/em>, was selected as a bellwether (practice or test case) for the remaining suits.<br \/>In February 2026, a woman identified as KGM <a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2026\/02\/california-trial-over-social-media-harm-to-children-begins\/ >sued<\/a> Meta, Google, and YouTube, claiming that the platforms addicted her, which caused physical and emotional harm.\u00a0 In March, a jury <a href=https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/meta-school-lawsuit-settlement-tiktok-snap-b20cdfe88dbcb55fb14808fe7f9c7372>found<\/a> in her favor and <a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2026\/03\/meta-and-youtube-found-liable-for-designing-harmful-and-addictive-products\/ >awarded<\/a> her about $6 million.\u00a0 Also in March, a jury in New Mexico on Tuesday\u00a0<a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2026\/03\/us-state-court-fines-meta-for-violating-new-mexico-consumer-protection-law-in-child-safety-case\/ >found<\/a> Meta liable for harming children and misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms.\u00a0 It ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for violating consumer protection laws.<br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/R46751>Section 230<\/a> of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 provides immunity to providers and users of interactive computer services for information created by another person.\u00a0 Providers remain liable for information that they create.<br \/>The next <a href=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/may\/21\/meta-social-media-addiction-kentucky-schools>lawsuits<\/a> against the social media companies are scheduled to be heard in July, including one filed by the Attorney General of Tennessee.\u00a0 The next scheduled school district case is by the Tucson Unified School District.<br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2026\/05\/taiwan-dispatch-national-human-rights-review-calls-for-death-penalty-moratorium\/ title=\"Permalink to Taiwan dispatch: national human rights review calls for death penalty moratorium\">Taiwan dispatch: national human rights review calls for death penalty moratorium<\/a><br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2026\/05\/kenya-dispatch-nairobis-anti-france-protests-spark-debate-over-democracy-diplomacy\/ title=\"Permalink to Kenya dispatch: Nairobi\u2019s anti-France protests spark debate over democracy, diplomacy\">Kenya dispatch: Nairobi\u2019s anti-France protests spark debate over democracy, diplomacy<\/a><br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/commentary\/2026\/05\/forever-barred-and-precluded-trumps-irs-settlement-and-the-architecture-of-federal-immunity\/ title=\"Permalink to &amp;#8216;Forever Barred and Precluded&amp;#8217;: Trump&amp;#8217;s IRS Settlement and the Architecture of Federal Immunity\">&#8216;Forever Barred and Precluded&#8217;: Trump&#8217;s IRS Settlement and the Architecture of Federal Immunity<\/a><br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/commentary\/2026\/05\/from-tokyo-to-the-hague-how-a-1946-tribunal-continues-to-shape-the-laws-of-war\/ title=\"Permalink to From Tokyo to The Hague: How a 1946 Tribunal Continues to Shape the Laws of War\">From Tokyo to The Hague: How a 1946 Tribunal Continues to Shape the Laws of War<\/a><br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/features\/2026\/04\/24\/beaten-starved-unbroken-an-interview-with-ben-marmarelli-lawyer-to-marwan-barghouti-palestines-nelson-mandela\/ title=\"Permalink to Beaten, Starved, Unbroken: An Interview with Ben Marmarelli, Lawyer to Marwan Barghouti, Palestine&amp;#8217;s Nelson Mandela\">Beaten, Starved, Unbroken: An Interview with Ben Marmarelli, Lawyer to Marwan Barghouti, Palestine&#8217;s Nelson Mandela<\/a><br \/><a href=https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/features\/2026\/04\/21\/blanche-v-lau-supreme-court-to-decide-whether-dhs-can-sidestep-deportation-rules-for-returning-green-card-holders\/ title=\"Permalink to Blanche v. Lau: Supreme Court to Decide Whether DHS Can Sidestep Deportation Rules for Returning Green Card Holders\">Blanche v. Lau: Supreme Court to Decide Whether DHS Can Sidestep Deportation Rules for Returning Green Card Holders<\/a><br \/>Benjamin Cardozo born<br \/>Benjamin Cardozo, future US Supreme Court Justice, was born on May 24, 1870.    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/justices\/benjamin_n_cardozo\">Learn more<\/a> about Justice Benjamin Cardozo from the <em>Oyez<\/em> project at Northwestern University.<br \/>England Parliament passes Act of Toleration<br \/>On May 24, 1689, the Parliament of England promulgated the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jacobite.ca\/documents\/1689toleration.htm\">Act of Toleration<\/a>, which granted religious freedom to English Protestants to the exclusion of Roman Catholics.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiogFBVV95cUxOTTQxUkJiOU93bDIzM3lETXBxY2g2TzNyUm9uakhxU21ZSjc1akJqM1VHcTJxSmdueFVDT3g3MkJFN1FMc2FydUpuRmNHTXFuUzJDV2NOdHRxMFU5VFhscFQ3OEk4MnBKSW1ZeHVuOFhyelZTSVphSEw4MlVPSnk3VC1ZQ2tuOXB4elo0LWR1NkhUcFNfRE90MGRtYm5wel8ydGc?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has settled its first national case with a school district over harm to children\u2019s mental health.\u00a0 The terms of the settlement with Breathitt County School District in eastern Kentucky are confidential. However, the district initially sought over $60 million to cover the costs of treating the injuries caused [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}