Alamance-Burlington School System joins lawsuit against social media companies

The Alamance-Burlington School System Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday to join a nationwide lawsuit against major social media companies. 

More than 200 school districts across the country have signed on to take part in federal litigation against the owners of social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. The lawsuit alleges that these companies have substantially contributed to the youth mental health crisis. 

Several North Carolina districts have recently gotten involved, including the Alamance-Burlington School System.

Greensboro-based attorney Janet Ward Black spoke about the litigation at a recent school board meeting. 

“There is peer-reviewed scientific literature that shows that there has been a tremendous increase over the last 10 years when there's been a proliferation of social media of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self harm, and in some instances, successful suicides," she said. 

Ward Black said tactics used by these companies can lead to social media addiction. She also spoke about how easy it is for young people to access harmful content, and how these platforms fail to protect users’ private information.

She adds that all of this contributes to mental health issues which pose challenges for already under-resourced school systems.

“We're asking for things called injunctive relief, which is meaning ask the company to actually change their behavior," Ward Black said. "But by the same token, we would like to receive compensation to allow the school systems to get the mental health needs, to get the community partners that they need, counselors, additional teachers to address a lot of these ills that have come forward.”

The school board unanimously voted to join the lawsuit and retain Ward Black’s firm on the agreement that attorneys would be paid a share of any money the district receives from the case. 

Also participating in the litigation are school boards in Mecklenburg, Wake and Rockingham counties, to name a few. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.