US school system sues Meta, Google, Snap over mental crisis among students

A school district in the US state of Maryland has sued Meta, Google, Snapchat and TikTok for allegedly contributing to a “mental health crisis” among students.

The lawsuit, filed by the Howard County Public School System, said that children are suffering an unprecedented mental health crisis fuelled by addictive and dangerous social media products.

In the past decade, Americans’ engagement with social media grew exponentially.

“That explosion in usage is no accident. It is the result of defendants’ studied efforts to induce young people to compulsively use their products — Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube,” the lawsuit read.