Pinellas Schools To Sue Social Media Giants Over Mental Health Crisis

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Pinellas County school officials this week became the latest district to file a lawsuit against several social media companies, claiming apps like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat have created a mental health crisis among teenagers, according to multiple reports.

Pinellas County School Board members unanimously voted to file the lawsuit Tuesday night, WFLA reported. At least one board member said the harm caused by social media has been significant and companies need to do more to protect young people.

“We see reduced attention span, reduced cognitive development or delayed cognitive development, learning impacts, behavior, discipline, physical health, mental health, depression, and certainly the worst that could happen to any family or school family, which is the loss of life,” School Board Vice Chairperson Laura Hine said, according to WFLA.

Pinellas County Schools will be represented in the lawsuit by Orlando-based Maher Law Firm and Kansas City-based Wagstaff & Cartmell, FOX 13 reported. The firms represent at least 20 other Florida public school boards in similar lawsuits, the report said.

The district joins hundreds of others across the country who have accused social media companies of intentionally hooking kids on platforms designed to be addictive.

A lawsuit filed earlier this year in San Francisco District Court claimed 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."

As a result, "many (students) are further subjected to often harmful, exploitative and addictive content that encourages disorderly behavior, unhealthy social comparison, and cyberbullying," according to a news release by California-based Frantz Law Group.

The release also cited an advisory released in May by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. In the advisory, Murphy touted research showing that at least one-third of girls between the ages of 11 and 15 say they feel "addicted" to specific social media platforms, while 46 percent of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 said social media makes them feel worse.

A Pinellas County Schools official told WTSP the district was not joining a class action lawsuit. Instead, each district must file its own lawsuit which will go to a single federal judge for review.

No taxpayer funds will be used to pay attorneys, WTSP reported.

Pinellas Schools attorney David Koperski said that if successful, the lawsuit would help the district to "recoup taxpayer resources spent to address these issues," FOX 13 reported.

Jonathan Kieffer, an attorney with Maher Law Firm, said the lawsuit isn't about punishing anyone for exercising their free speech rights on social media, reports said.

"We are saying that these platforms are products," Kieffer said, according to FOX 13. "They're products just like any other product, and there has to be some level of guardrails, some level of protection for underage and vulnerable kids."