$27 million settlement from tech giants for U.S. school district

Judicial documents obtained by Reuters revealed that the Braithwaite School District in the US state of Kentucky received huge financial compensation of $27 million from major social media companies, as part of historical legal settlements related to the impact of these platforms on the mental health of students. Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, topped the list of shareholders in compensation with a payment of $9 million, accounting for the largest share Of the total settlement, Meta was joined by Snap, which owns Snapchat, Alphabet, which owns YouTube, and ByteDance, which owns TikTok. The district, which serves about 1,600 students according to federal data, has accused these companies of deliberately designing their platforms to get young users addicted to them. According to the lawsuit, this deliberate design led to widespread anxiety, depression, and abusive behaviors psyche among students, leaving schools facing dire consequences. In its original lawsuit, the district sought more than $60 million in damages to cover the costs of addressing the impact of social media on students' mental health, as well as funding for a 15-year mental health program. It also demanded a court order requiring companies to tweak their algorithms to reduce addictive features. Although all companies deny the accusations against them and confirm them to take broad action to protect small users, but this settlement sets an important precedent. The plaintiffs' attorneys are now looking to pursue similar lawsuits filed by 1,200 other school districts across the U.S., in what could be a new legal wave against the tech giants. Meta has warned its investors that the growing legal and regulatory backlash in the United States and the European Union over young users' issues could dramatically significant on its business and future financial results.