TOWSON, Md. — Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) is the latest district in Maryland to join a nationwide class action lawsuit against social media companies.
The growing list already includes Anne Arundel, Charles, Harford, Howard, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's and Wicomico County Public Schools.
They claim social media is a "primary contributor to escalating mental health issues among students."
Specifically the lawsuit names Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok.
RELATED: Maryland schools file lawsuit blaming social media for youth mental health crisis
Schools argue those platforms "intentionally designed their platforms to target children without providing adequate warnings to users and parents about the potential dangers of social media leading to increased rates of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts."
As result the schools say they've been "compelled to redirect funds meant for essential educational resources to address the detrimental effects of social media."
BCPS accuses the companies of gaining substantial profits from the practice.
"These tech companies prioritize financial gains over the safety and well-being of children, despite being aware of the harmful consequences of their actions,"
Law firms working on the case are doing so according to an agreement that would reportedly come at no cost to taxpayers.
We reached out to the social companies when the lawsuit was first file months ago, and here is what they had to say.
Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work. In collaboration with child development specialists, we have built age-appropriate experiences for kids and families on YouTube, and provide parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true. - Google Spokesperson
Meta gave us this response:
We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we’re doing to provide teens with safe, supportive experiences online. We’ve developed more than 30 tools to support teens and their families, including tools that allow parents to decide when, and for how long, their teens use Instagram, age verification technology, automatically setting accounts belonging to those under 16 to private when they join Instagram, and sending notifications encouraging teens to take regular breaks. We’ve invested in technology that finds and removes content related to suicide, self-injury or eating disorders before anyone reports it to us. These are complex issues, but we will continue working with parents, experts and regulators such as the state attorneys general to develop new tools, features and policies that meet the needs of teens and their families. Antigone Davis, Head of Safety, Meta
Meta listed some of the tools they've created to foster supportive and positive experience for teens:
- Teens are shown notifications to take regular breaks from Instagram.
- Teens are notified that it might be time to look at something different if they've been scrolling on the same topic for awhile.
- Teens are given the option to turn on hidden words for comments and DMs. Once on, comments and DMs containing emojis, words or phrases selected by the user will be hidden.
- Meta uses age verification technology to help teens have experiences that are appropriate for their age.
