This is not something I expected to see out of Seattle. The schools are legit suing big tech for targeting children and creating a public nuisance and a "youth public health crisis." One interesting aspect of this case is that it takes a novel approach to getting around the Section 230 protections typically afforded to these #BigTech platforms. The lawsuit, "asserts that tech firms are not covered by Section 230 since the issue is the design and marketing of the platforms, not the content."

Check out this article from PJ Media:

Normally, news out of the Northwest tends to be depressing. But once in a while, little rays of light, both natural and created by human-sponsored lunacy, manage to break through the clouds. In this case, the news is about a lawsuit against Big Tech. Beyond the novelty of a school district in a very left-wing part of the country going head-to-head with a very left-wing industry, it is an indicator that even the progressive side of the country may be waking up to the fact that Big Tech is self-serving and far too powerful.

The suit was filed by Seattle School District No. 1 on January 6, and names Meta Platforms, Inc., Facebook Holdings, LLC, Facebook Operations, LLC, Meta Payments Inc., Facebook Technologies, LLC, Instagram, LLC, Siculus, Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok Inc., ByteDance Inc., Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, XXVI Holdings Inc., and YouTube, LLC as defendants.

TV station KOMO states that the suit claims that social media companies knowingly target children, thereby creating a public nuisance. It also alleges that the platforms have manipulated and exploited children, precipitating a “youth public health crisis.”

National Review released a copy of the court filing, which states in part of the introduction:

And Defendants have grown not just their user bases, but the frequency with which users use their platforms and the time each user spends on their platforms. Defendants’ growth is a product of choices they made to design and operate their platforms in ways that exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users into spending more and more time on their platforms. These techniques are both particularly effective and harmful to the youth audience Defendants have intentionally cultivated, creating a mental health crisis among America’s youth.

Defendants have done so for profit. Their business models are based on advertisements. The more time users spend on their platforms, the more ads Defendants can sell.

Youths are central to Defendants’ business models. Youths are more likely to have a phone, to use social media, and to have downtime to spend on Defendants’ social media platforms. Plus, youth influence the behavior of their parents and younger siblings. As one Defendant put it, “los[ing] the teen foothold in the U.S.[,]” would mean “los[ing] the pipeline” for growth.

The suit also states that the defendants have designed and refined their platforms to exploit the rewards systems in children’s brains to increase the amount of time children use the platforms and the number of times that they visit them. The suit cites the fact that children’s brains, impulse control, and emotional maturity are not as developed as those of older users. Another point the suit raises is an increase in youth anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and self-harm, which it says correlates with social media use. Furthermore, the suit asserts that tech firms are not covered by Section 230 since the issue is the design and marketing of the platforms, not the content.

Read the full article at the link below.
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LINK:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/lincolnbrown/2023/01/09/seattle-public-schools-sue-the-tech-giants-n1660098