--- title: "Meta and TikTok spend money to \"calm down\": The first case of a school district settling against social media addiction, with social media giants paying a total of $27 million" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/288131745.md" description: "Meta, TikTok and other social media giants have agreed to pay approximately $27 million to settle the first anti-social media addiction lawsuit filed by the Breckinridge County School District in Kentucky. The district accused the platforms' products of causing a mental health crisis among teenagers and consuming school resources. Meta will pay $9 million, while Snap and TikTok will each pay $8 million, and YouTube will pay over $2 million and provide training. This move avoids the first related trial in the United States, but there are over 1,300 similar lawsuits pending, with potential legal liabilities reaching $400 billion" datetime: "2026-05-30T03:43:01.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/288131745.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288131745.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/288131745.md) --- # Meta and TikTok spend money to "calm down": The first case of a school district settling against social media addiction, with social media giants paying a total of $27 million According to the Zhitong Finance APP, several of the world's largest social media platforms have agreed to pay approximately $27 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a rural school district in Kentucky. The district accused these companies of creating addictive products that contribute to a youth mental health crisis, thereby draining school resources. According to documents released under the state's open records law, Meta (META.US), which owns Instagram and Facebook, will pay the school district $9 million, more than any other company. Records show that Snap Inc. and TikTok each agreed to pay $8 million. YouTube, owned by Google, negotiated a payment slightly over $2 million and is the only company that also agreed to provide training programs to help teachers better use its video products in the classroom. The total one-time payment exceeds the Breckinridge County school district's annual budget of $25 million by 8%. These settlement agreements were announced earlier this month, but financial details were not disclosed at that time. The agreements allow these companies to avoid the first trial in the U.S. against a school district, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in federal court in Oakland, California. However, their respite will be short-lived: over 1,300 other school districts have filed similar lawsuits and are currently awaiting trial. The next trial is scheduled for February 2027. The agreement reached with the Breckinridge County schools may indicate that these companies are willing to reach large-scale settlements with the remaining school districts. According to assessments, this series of lawsuits could ultimately impose legal liabilities of up to $400 billion on these companies. In a written statement, these companies stated that they have amicably resolved this lawsuit and will continue to invest in providing stronger safety measures for users. The terms of these companies' settlements were disclosed for the first time under Kentucky's open records law, clarifying the potential costs of this massive lawsuit that has been brewing for years across multiple jurisdictions. Over the past four years, individuals, school districts, and state attorneys general have filed more than 6,000 lawsuits against these social media giants, accusing them of developing products that are as addictive as cigarettes and targeting minors like large tobacco companies. The lawsuits claim that the features of social media platforms have distorted a generation of children, leading to addiction, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicide. In the first personal injury case to go to trial, a jury in Los Angeles County ruled in March that Meta and YouTube should be held liable for harming a 20-year-old woman who claimed her addiction caused severe mental distress. The jury awarded her $6 million in damages—a trivial amount for two companies valued in the trillions—but a symbolic victory for the thousands of other young people waiting to take these companies to court. (Snap and TikTok, also sued in the case, reached confidential settlements before the trial.) In another independent trial held in the same month, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages for failing to protect children from online harm. The case in Breckinridge County is seen as a bellwether trial (or test case) for school districts facing allegations of social media addiction. Many plaintiff attorneys involved in the lawsuit were surprised that all companies agreed to settle the case before trial, partly because Breckinridge County was initially selected by the defendants to go to trial first. These companies argued that Breckinridge County—a micro school district nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains—represents other rural school districts with fewer than 2,000 students, which account for nearly half of the school lawsuits filed nationwide. While personal injury lawsuits filed by individual users or their parents aim to seek compensation for personal losses, the school district hopes to be compensated for institutional costs—including the sharply increased mental health and counseling services provided to students. The district argued that these companies knew about the mental health risks for teenagers but failed to design features that would reduce the addictive characteristics of their products. The Breckinridge County school district had sought over $60 million in damages to fund mental health programs related to students' excessive use of social media and to develop curricula around the dangers of the digital world. In a testimony, the district's superintendent, Philip Watts, estimated that he spends about 20% of his work time addressing concerns related to social media. Caroline McDaniel, who served as principal of Breckinridge County High School from 2016 to 2019, estimated that social media consumed even more of her time. "It's a huge waste of resources," she said in an interview. "I have two assistant principals who spend at least 50% of their time on social media-related issues." "Kids would sneak phones into classrooms, filming fight videos during lessons, vandalizing property, and bullying each other online," McDaniel added. "I remember even then, our counselors were really struggling." McDaniel, who currently works at a high school in Tennessee, stated that social media issues are only getting worse. The next federal bellwether trial—this time selected by the plaintiffs—will revolve around a school district in Tucson, Arizona. Meanwhile, Kentucky is one of about three states (approximately 36) suing Meta over social media harms, with the trial set to take place in August in Oakland. 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