Meta, TikTok, Snap settle Kentucky school district lawsuit for $27 million

Meta, Snap, TikTok (owned by ByteDance) and Google’s YouTube agreed to pay roughly $27 million to the Breathitt County school district in rural Kentucky to end a federal lawsuit alleging their platforms are addictive and harm students' mental health.

The settlement provides $9 million from Meta, $8 million each from Snap and TikTok, and about $2 million in cash from Google, which will also fund teacher training, a socio‑emotional learning program, and access to Google Workspace and AI tools for schools.

The case was poised to become a benchmark for more than 1,300 U.S. school districts that have filed similar claims, seeking damages for sleep disorders, emotional distress and other harms linked to social‑media use. By resolving the dispute, the companies avoid a trial in Oakland, California that could have set legal precedent across the United States.