Tuscaloosa City Schools joins social media lawsuit

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — Three Alabama school districts allege Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat created a youth mental health crisis.

The Baldwin County, Montgomery Public and Tuscaloosa City School Districts’ lawsuits are filed in the California state court Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding.

Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Daria says he is hoping to hold social media companies responsible to protect his students from online bullies.

“We have services in place to address those challenges with social workers and councilors But lots our challenges are made harder due to social media, we see issues with bullying and peer conflict issues where social media is at the heart of a lot of this,” Daria said.

The Alabama school districts are among the first to file these types of suits against social media companies. The complaints allege public nuisance and negligence claims under Alabama law.

Daria says taking a stand against bullying is the right move.

“We want our students to come to school everyday to focus on learning and unfortunately because of so many things happening outside the school including social media they come in with other issues and problems on their minds that prevents them from focusing and learning,” Daria added.

The three districts fall within the top 15 in Alabama based on student population, according to the U.S. Department of Education.