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Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

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Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#11

Post by poulsbohemian »

ehhthing wrote: post #7
xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

I am not a lawyer, but this seems like the school board have no standing (in the legal sense) to be filing this lawsuit. I do not believe that social media companies have the duty of care to the school boards to maintain kids' mental health. Some of the things in the lawsuit are just stupid like arguing that social media causes them to need to do investigations into threats and such. You wouldn't be suing the USPS or…

>seems like the school board have no standing

That was exactly my reaction. If Bob Ferguson (WA AG) wanted to pursue such a case, he / the state would have standing - and as far as I know, the school board asking the state and getting other school boards involved in such a case would be the more powerful approach. This is Seattle though, with its particular political leanings, and/or it could also be a bit of a Hail Mary - do this to show frustration in hopes that the AG or similar parties will take action.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#12

Post by EarlKing »

ehhthing wrote: post #7
xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

I am not a lawyer, but this seems like the school board have no standing (in the legal sense) to be filing this lawsuit. I do not believe that social media companies have the duty of care to the school boards to maintain kids' mental health. Some of the things in the lawsuit are just stupid like arguing that social media causes them to need to do investigations into threats and such. You wouldn't be suing the USPS or…

Literally this. You'd have to twist yourself into a legal pretzel to somehow claim that because teachers act in loco parentis for children in their care that now somehow their supervisors have power of attorney over their charges.

This is one of those cases where the idiots involved deserve to get hit with a huge fine for filing a frivolous lawsuit. No, not the school district, but those involved. Personally.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#13

Post by Calvin02 »

xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

I think the premise that no social media = no depressed kids is pretty weak, imo.

Also, what's social media? Are messaging apps not social media?

This feels like another one of those 'violent video games are bad' arguments.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#14

Post by HideousKojima »

xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

How would the school board sue drug cartels or hobos? Those are only slightly more ridiculous than suing TikTok.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#15

Post by charcircuit »

This lawsuit is an embarrassment using a compilation of anti social media arguments including misleading ones where the truth is twisted to make an argument.

>Meta also delays the time it takes to load the feed. “This is because without that three-second delay, Instagram wouldn’t feel variable.”

This isn't a fact. They are literally quoting speculation from Vice while making it seem like an official quote from Meta. Twitter and Instagram take time to load the feed because it's a nontrivial operation. I'd expect adding fake delays to your app will just cause people to get annoyed and use your app less.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#16

Post by shkkmo »

ehhthing wrote: post #7
xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

I am not a lawyer, but this seems like the school board have no standing (in the legal sense) to be filing this lawsuit. I do not believe that social media companies have the duty of care to the school boards to maintain kids' mental health. Some of the things in the lawsuit are just stupid like arguing that social media causes them to need to do investigations into threats and such. You wouldn't be suing the USPS or…

Where are you getting this "duty of care" thing? That doesn't seem remotely similar to any of the legal arguments discussed in the article.

> You wouldn't be suing the USPS or AT&T for allowing the same thing, would you?

Those aren't analogous companies at all. Social media companies don't just deliver content, they promote specific content and optimize thier platforms to increase engagement.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#17

Post by shkkmo »

EarlKing wrote: post #12
ehhthing wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a lawyer, but this seems like the school board have no standing (in the legal sense) to be filing this lawsuit. I do not believe that social media companies have the duty of care to the school boards to maintain kids' mental health. Some of the things in the lawsuit are just stupid like arguing that social media causes them to need to do investigations into threats and such. You wouldn't be suing the USPS or…

Literally this. You'd have to twist yourself into a legal pretzel to somehow claim that because teachers act in loco parentis for children in their care that now somehow their supervisors have power of attorney over their charges. This is one of those cases where the idiots involved deserve to get hit with a huge fine for filing a frivolous lawsuit. No, not the school district, but those involved. Personally.

How does "power of attorney" have any relevance here?

The argument is simply that the school district has suffered damages from specific behavior by the social media companies, that has nothing to with an ability to make decisions on the student's behalf.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#18

Post by shkkmo »

raincom wrote: post #10
kaptainscarlet wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No grandstanding in my opinion. Social media is a very dangerous and addictive drug that is difficult to police. It should be heavily regulated as it's destroying society.

If the drug is distributed by, controlled by, the American govt using its tech companies, such a drug is fine. The moment, the control goes to Chinese, yes, it is a big NO :)

Two of the three companies being sued are based in the USA.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#19

Post by LarryMullins »

xrd wrote: post #4

So far, two comments saying this is grandstanding by the school board. If you replace social media with drugs and high schoolers with homeless people, wouldn't it be more typical for people to be saying that elected officials aren't doing ANYTHING! What's the difference? I have read enough to know that these social media companies are employing behavioral scientists that are attempting to make their products addictiv…

I think it would be a bit odd to see a school district suing drug dealers. Seeing as weed is legal in Seattle, could/should the Seattle public schools sue local [state-]legal weed stores for selling product that will inevitably find their way into the hands of teenagers? I suppose they could, but it would be surprising to see.

This said, I have a special hatred for TikTok so I wish the Seattle schools good luck in their crazy endeavor.

Re: Seattle Public Schools sues TikTok, YouTube, Instagram over youth mental health

#20

Post by DueDilligence »

.. as a Seattle dad .. I fucking love this awkward yet clearly precedent-setting case. I know most of the board and the majority of us are fed up and taking the power we have to task and accountability. This has been in the works for over four years and we know the end game: new laws, adopted by other cities and states. .. it’s been a clearly focused project for over 4 years now. One of my friends is on the board. I knew it was coming Q1 2023 and glad they stayed on task. A bevy of mental health experts are core to this - so due diligence. I don’t know the layout of the legal team, but was told they have put this thru the ringer - the goal has always been a legal precedent, then actual legislation then adopted by other entities as well. The Portland School District has a parallel lawsuit as well. The pushback will be WELL propagandized and vilified. I can only imagine what garbage FOX will spew.
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