Summary Bullets:

• In January 2023, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit against social media platform providers alleging they had violated a Washington State public nuisance law, resulting in a youth mental health crisis.

• 100 other districts are also suing the providers, and in May 2023, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning of the possible dangers of social media to youth mental health.

The need for human connection in the disconnected digital age in which we live makes social media a dominant force. This is particularly true among younger generations who seem to live for ‘likes’ and ‘snaps’ and ‘Tik Toks.’ But in a medium where the users (and their data) are the product and not the client, there is a definite dark side.

Nearly two years after former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen’s incendiary Senate testimony that the platform employed design features harmful to young users to drive growth and profits, the social media titan and its peers are facing legal action alleging they are major contributors to the nationwide youth mental health crisis. More than 100 school districts are suing Facebook parent company Meta, along with the parent companies of Snapchat, Tik Tok, and YouTube. The suits argue the platform providers knowingly used exploitive design elements to maximize engagement that directly harmed student mental health.

Social media applications use a method known as partial reinforcement, which taps into the human need for social validation and interchange. Partial reinforcement offers intermittent substantiation via post or comment interaction. This drives the user to return continuously to the app, often leading to addictive behavior. The advertiser-supported apps targeted the youth specifically sought after by their clients, serving up some potentially harmful content around things like extreme weight loss and unregulated supplements.

The school districts are arguing that social media use is driving up rates of student anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation. In the Seattle Public School lawsuit, the district is seeking compensation for costs associated with an increased need for student mental health services.

However, legal observers suggest that the lawsuits are not so much financially driven as efforts to push the social media providers to make significant design changes to their platforms. And while the wave of lawsuits has been compared to the those levied against big tobacco and the vaping industry, legal experts are divided on whether the suits will have any material impact at all. Anxiety and depression have worsened in recent years, with 11.5% of the youth surveyed in the 2023 Mental Health in America study reporting severe depression. However, the US mental health crisis predates social media. Proving a direct link between social media platform design and deteriorating mental health could be Sisyphean task.

The social media providers have denied any role in the youth crisis, each reinforcing the efforts they make to ensure the safety of their users including the guidance they give that all users need to be over the age of 13. Instagram and Facebook also both introduced tools for parents to monitor and supervise their childrens’ accounts. Critics question the usefulness of the tools, particularly when both the parents and minors need to opt-in to their use.

As a parent whose children have grown up in the social media age, I have mixed feelings at best about these platforms. I have tried to educate them on the fact that they are the product, and the advertiser is the client. But as much as I dislike many of the tactics used, I think everyone, particularly adults, are responsible for how they use technology or any other tool.

These lawsuits may be well intentioned, and perhaps they will increase the discussion around social media misuse.  However, I think the resources would be better spent in educating both children and adults, including teachers and other staff, on the potential harms that come from misuse and overuse.  Anything that promotes addiction is inherently problematic, but some of the ill effects can be countered with responsible use.  Or, with more information, many of the younger generation may decide not to download the apps at all.

And as much lip service as social media companies give to the steps they are taking to protect young users, I have little faith in real progress in this front without pressure from their real clients – the advertisers. It would be great to see advertisers and technology partners push social media purveyors to re-evaluate how they approach the next generations.