The Rutherford County Board of Education is joining a national lawsuit against social media companies for alleged damages to students.
School board members unanimously voted Thursday evening to join the suit against multiple companies including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube.
Multiple lawsuits across the nation are currently arguing that social media is contributing to the teen mental health crisis due to the lack of adequate age verification measures, insufficient parental control, and how the platforms endless scrolling is designed to lure and attract teens and expose them to harmful content.
“We are at a crisis point with our kids, and what started out as bad has only gotten worse. And since COVID, it seems like it’s even worse. And I concur, whether we get a dime out of this or not, it sends a message and maybe it’ll finally do some good,” said board Vice-Chair Claire Maxwell.
Frantz Law Group of California is leading the multi-district lawsuit. The same firm recently settled a similar lawsuit against the e-cigarette company JUUL.
Rutherford County school leaders are the latest in Tennessee to make the decision to sue social media companies. Clarksville-Montgomery County School District leaders filed a similar lawsuit last July and Cumberland County Schools filed one in November.
There is no cost to the district to join the litigation and a third of any judgement or settlement will go towards attorney fees.
Multiple board members affirmed their position that this action is not about the money.
“Even if there was no potential monetary gain that could come back to the school district, there’s no way for us to lose money. That even if there was a way for us to gain money from it or there wasn’t, I would still be completely for this. I don’t think there’s anybody that has kids that doesn’t think this is an issue,” said board member Caleb Tidwell.
