Local News
Elected officials in Massachusetts are growing increasingly wary of social media companies and the allegedly addicting features they deploy.
Boston City Hall. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
The Boston City Council is urging Boston Public Schools to evaluate whether the district should join nationwide litigation against major social media companies.
That litigation, which has been consolidated in federal court, names the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Google, Snapchat, and TikTok as defendants. It alleges that these companies and their social media platforms have contributed to a nationwide mental health crisis affecting young people by deploying potentially addicting features designed to maximize screen time.
Councilor Miniard Culpepper introduced both a hearing order and a resolution concerning this topic at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Councilor Julia Mejia co-sponsored both measures. The hearing order was referred to the education committee after receiving significant support, and the resolution was approved with votes from all 11 councilors present at the meeting.
“Youth mental health is one of the most pressing challenges facing our students today. Across the country and here in Boston, we have seen the impacts show up in classrooms and in the growing need for behavioral health supports,” Culpepper said.
He acknowledged that the city has made meaningful investments in supporting the mental health of young people, such as the Heads Up Boston initiative. But the need continues to grow.
“We must explore every available option to support our students,” Culpepper said.
The litigation, according to the resolution, is attempting to hold social media companies accountable for “downstream costs” that are being imposed on public institutions. It seeks to recover money that could be “reinvested into student services, prevention efforts, and school-based mental health supports.”
The resolution does not direct BPS to automatically join this nationwide litigation. It calls upon school officials to “conduct a thorough and timely evaluation of the costs and benefits” associated with joining the litigation, and to present those findings to the Boston School Committee.
“Either way, I think families, students, and taxpayers deserve transparency around that decision-making process,” Mejia said.
Spokespeople for BPS did not immediately return a request for comment after the vote.
The development comes as elected officials in Massachusetts take an increasingly adversarial stance toward major social media companies and warn about the harms that social media use can cause young people. Last month, Gov. Maura Healey proposed legislation that seeks to force social media companies to implement “age assurance” systems on their platforms and set up specific guardrails for users under the age of 18.
“These companies have designed products to be addictive and to exploit young peoples’ insecurities. That’s what’s happening,” Healey said.
Healey’s bill is supported by many lawmakers and educators. But she is receiving some pushback from critics that say her bill is unworkable in a practical sense and that it could end up delivering more sensitive user information to social media companies.
In March, a California jury found that Meta and Google were at fault for deliberately building addictive features designed to exploit young people. That major decision could expose social media companies to further financial damages and even potentially force them to change how their platforms function.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently found that Meta is not immune from lawsuits over addictive features, allowing Attorney General Andrea Campbell to sue the company.
If BPS were to participate in the nationwide litigation, this would likely be done on a contingency fee basis, meaning that the district would not have to pay upfront costs, according to the resolution.
“This is about ensuring Boston is using every available tool to support student wellbeing, protect our school communities, and responsibly pursue resources that can strengthen mental health services to our students and to all of our young people in the city of Boston,” Culpepper said.
Ross Cristantiello
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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