Meta settles social media addiction case brought by rural Kentucky school district
Meta has settled the first of many lawsuits brought by school districts across the country that sued social media companies seeking compensation for costs they say they incurred dealing with children’s social media addiction and mental health harms
Social media companies including Meta have settled the first of many lawsuits brought by hundreds of school districts seeking compensation for costs they say they incurred dealing with harms to children's mental health from social media addiction.
The lawsuit brought by a small, rural Kentucky school district was set to go to trial next month in federal court in Oakland, California. The judge and the parties selected it as a bellwether case — essentially a test for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury — out of 1,200 similar cases. The settlement only applies to the Breathitt County School District.
Meta reached a settlement with the district Thursday, following settlements earlier this week with the other defendants in the case — TikTok, Snap and Google’s YouTube.
The financial terms of the settlements were not disclosed. The school district had sought more than $60 million to create a 15-year program it said would help counteract mental health and learning issues caused by social media.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement that their "focus remains on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 school districts who have filed cases.”
The settlement follows court losses earlier this year for Meta and YouTube in social media harms lawsuits in California and New Mexico.
In March, Meta and YouTube were found liable for designing addictive features following a trial in Los Angeles. The plaintiff, known by her initials KGM, claimed she became addicted to social media as a child and that it exacerbated her mental health struggles. A jury sided with her and awarded about $6 million in damages.
And in New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta harms children’s mental health and safety, in violation of state law.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.