Horry County Schools joins suit against social media giants

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County Schools on Friday formally joined a nationwide lawsuit against a group of social media companies being sued for their alleged role in the nation’s youth mental-health crisis.

The Mount Pleasant-based Motley Rice law firm hired by Horry County Schools in February filed the paperwork in U.S. District Court for Northern California on Friday. The board of education in December voted 8-1 in favor of joining the lawsuit, which was originally filed in October 2022.

Horry County Schools’ filing names Meta, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Google and YouTube. The suit seeks a jury trial.

The 233-page, which grew into a class-action case by October 2023, was brought by attorneys general from 33 states, including South Carolina’s Alan Wilson. They claim the social media giants have violated consumer protection laws in several ways, including collecting data on minors without parental consent to create targeted marketing campaigns.

Wilson said features such as “infinite scrolling” and instant alerts about new content were designed as hooks to keep users fixed to the product.

“Meta knew these addictive features harmed young people’s physical and mental health, including undermining their ability to get adequate sleep, but did not disclose the harm nor did they make meaningful changes to minimize the harm,” Wilson said in an Oct. 24 news release. Instead, they claimed their platforms were safe for young users.”

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Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13 . He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook , X, formerly Twitter , and read more of his work here .

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