WKYT Investigates: Breathitt County schools to receive $27 million settlement from social …

BREATHITT COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) – Breathitt County Schools is set to receive a $27 million settlement from four social media companies. In 2023, the district filed a lawsuit against Snapchat, Meta, TikTok and YouTube, accusing the companies of creating addictive technologies that hurt student mental health and forced schools to spend more on counseling and other services. The district will receive $27 million from the companies instead of the case going to trial as scheduled next week. Bellwether case avoids trial Breathitt County Schools’ case against Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat was viewed as a bellwether case against the social media giants. According to Bloomberg News, it was set to be the first of more than 1,300 similar lawsuits filed by districts across the U.S. to go to trial. The trial was supposed to start on June 12, but instead, the companies have agreed to pay the district a combined $27 million. Bloomberg reports Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will pay the most at $9 million. Snapchat and TikTok each agreed to pay $8 million, and YouTube will pay just over $2 million. Lawsuit claims The lawsuit claimed the companies created addictive technologies that hurt student mental health. The
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