PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with plans to join a national lawsuit against social media giants, taking steps to hold social media companies accountable.
The list includes Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. The lawsuit claims these apps negatively impact students’ mental well-being.
“I think it is important to recognize that social media can have a positive impact on the community. But in this instance, it's having an increasingly negative impact on our children and on our students. And we as leaders have to look out for those sorts of negative influences in their lives. And we have to stand up and do something to solve the problem,” explained Lisa Cane, the chairperson for Pinellas County Schools.
Cane, along with the other school board members, said social media is leading to an increase in cyberbullying and body image issues, among other things, with students in the district. They also feel like these apps are taking away from learning in the classroom.
"It's very important as a parent, as a leader, we step up and try to find solutions. I’m hoping that through this and if enough voices are heard, they will be pushed to consider finding a solution or finding a way that is more than checking a box, that there's more than putting parental controls on something that can be bypassed by students on their device,” said Cane.
The board will vote later this summer on an agreement with the legal team that plans to challenge the social media giants in court. Now, dozens of districts nationwide are filing similar lawsuits, including several districts in Florida.
