BERKELEY – The Central Regional Board of Education will join a class action lawsuit against five social media companies for profiting off harming children, officials said.
Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Youtube are all named in the suit.
The suit was announced at a recent Board meeting with a statement read by Board President Susan Cowdrick. The statement began with acknowledging the tragic death of Adriana Kuch, a 14-year-old who committed suicide last year after a video of her being assaulted by other students was spread through social media.
The purpose of the suit is to end the “intentional and harmful” impacts that social media has on youth, Cowdrick said.
Additionally, social media broadcasts an inaccurate world view which also hurts a young person’s self esteem. All of this harm is done to maximize profits and make it easier to spread questionable content, she said.
The law office taking on the suit is working on an contingent basis, officials said, meaning that they will only get paid if the suit is successful. They would be paid through the settlement. Any other money awarded the district would be used to address mental health concerns in the schools.
“No amount of money will bring her back,” Cowdrick said. What’s more important is to create legal ramifications to prevent this from happening again.
There was much discussion after the tragedy about the role that social media played. It is very easy to upload violent videos but very difficult to get these companies to take them down. Meanwhile, the more the video is shared, the more money the company makes off of it.
New Jersey lawmakers are already supporting making it illegal to film an attack on a minor or spread it on social media.
