Breathitt Settles Part of Social Media Suit

A portion of a multi-million-dollar lawsuit filed by the Breathitt County School System against several international media companies ended on Friday, May 15, after officials confirmed that a settlement had been reached.

According to social media spokespersons, attorneys for Breathitt County and several tech giants reached an agreement to end the case against YouTube, TikTok, and Snap, which owns Snapchat.

The terms of the agreement were not released.

A spokesperson for YouTube told reporters that the suit was “amicably resolved,” but did not discuss the provisions of the settlement.

Social media observers across the nation had watched the case with interest after Attorney Robert E. Johnson, Jr. filed suit in the federal courts for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2023, alleging that the practices of the social media companies directly contributed to the growing mental health crisis in young students.

In the 87-page public nuisance complaint filed electronically on March 30, 2023, Johnson, an attorney with Hendy Johnson Vaughn Emery, PSC in Louisville, laid out the school system’s case, alleging increased property damage, increased need for mental health services, and several additional allegations that created a financial strain on the school system.

Johnson wrote that the companies “designed and marketed their exploitive social media platform.”  The suit alleges that the practices led to addictive behaviors in students and platform users.

The suit described the current state of social media use as a mental health crisis among students.

The suit also details efforts the school system took to address the issues it alleges were created by the social media practices.

The case, originally filed in Kentucky, was transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and had been working its way through the system in Oakland.  A trial was set to begin in June.

Not all of the litigants have settled.  The portion of the suit against Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, remains on the docket for June 15 before a federal jury.

According to several national media sources, Breathitt County had sought more than $60 million in damages, although no specific amount was listed in the court filings.

According to the suit, the school system would use any funds generated by the suit to address the ongoing impact of social media on students’ mental health and to implement a mental health program to reduce the effects of social media addiction.

The Breathitt County suit was one of more than 8,000 suits filed by individuals and school systems against the social media giants in the California Federal Courts.  It is estimated that approximately 1,200 school systems have filed similar suits.

The notice of settlement and request for dismissal have been filed with the courts in Oakland.  Final action is expected in the next few months to dismiss the cases against YouTube, TikTok, and Snap and to approve the details of the undisclosed settlement.

Breathitt County Schools and attorney Robert Johnson filed a similar suit against Juul Labs, Inc. in 2020 for racketeering, alleging the harmful effects of vaping, which resulted from their product and marketing practices.  That suit was settled on November 22, 2023. 

Arguments are expected to begin in June as the case against Facebook continues.