Boston Joins Lawsuit Over Social Media Harm to 46,000 Students as 1,500 Districts Already Signed On
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 8
Boston Joins Lawsuit Over Social Media Harm to 46,000 Students as 1,500 Districts Already Signed On
3 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 8
Summary
Boston said it joined a federal lawsuit against Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, arguing addictive features such as endless scroll, notifications and targeted algorithms are harming the mental health of its 46,000 public school students.
The city tied the move to rising student distress, citing a 2024 public health report showing 44% of Boston high school students reported persistent sadness in 2021, up from 27% in 2015.
The complaint, first filed in 2022 and now backed by nearly 1,500 school districts, seeks compensation for schools' mental-health costs and demands changes to product design and age-verification practices.
Meta, Google and Snap disputed the allegations, saying they have built youth protections, while ByteDance did not respond; in March, a California jury separately held Meta and Google liable in a case over a young woman's social-media addiction.
As billion-dollar lawsuits mount, is this social media's 'Big Tobacco' moment?
Can platforms designed for endless scrolling ever be truly safe for developing brains?
Boston Public Schools Take on Meta: Lawsuit Highlights Rising Youth Mental Health Crisis Linked to Social Media
Overview
Boston joined a major lawsuit against social media companies in July 2026, becoming part of a national movement to hold platforms like Meta accountable for their design choices. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2022, claims Meta intentionally created products to maximize user screen time using complex algorithms that exploit human psychology, leading to widespread harm among young users. Boston Public Schools decided to join after seeing a decade-long rise in student mental health issues linked to social media, with reports of persistent sadness among high school students increasing sharply from 2015 to 2021. This legal action highlights growing concerns about the impact of social media on youth well-being.