MPS to join lawsuit against social media giants

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is moving to join hundreds of other school districts in a class action lawsuit against several large tech and social media companies.

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors voted Saturday to approve a contract with the national law firm handling the legal action, which includes more than 600 school districts, including New York and Seattle. Locally, the Racine Unified School District is also a plaintiff.

The class action lawsuit names Meta, which includes the platforms Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube as defendants. 

Board Clerk Tina Owen Moore said Monday the agreement had not yet been signed and filed, so the district couldn't yet release a copy of the contract. A spokesperson for the law firm, Keller Rohrback, said MPS' complaint has not yet been filed and added the firm wasn't prepared to make a statement.

Keller Rohrback's website states the defendants' "social media platforms contribute to the youth mental health crisis through Defendants’ algorithms, their marketing approach, and their business strategies."

MPS board vice president Jilly Gokalgandhi said she believed Milwaukee students have also suffered as a result of large social media platforms not doing more to protect kids from feeling pressured or bullied.

"These social media companies, they know full well the harm that they're causing to kids," she said. "And so, this harm has not caused them to change how they do business, and so, we're really taking action to protect our youth."

When asked what MPS' ultimate goal was with the lawsuit, Gokalgandhi referenced when the district joined a class action lawsuit against e-cigarette manufacturer, JUUL. She said the district's share of an eventual settlement would help MPS expand its mental health services.

"We know that having more counselors, having more therapists in the building -- because of the negative effects of social media -- will help combat that," she said.

Mental health is one of the focus areas at Bembe Drum & Dance on the city's south side. Music director Bony Benavides, who also works as a traveling percussion teacher for MPS, said every group lesson begins with a check-in. She noted there are occasions where kids and pre-teens admit to feeling down and point to what they're seeing on their screens.

"They come in, I'm like, 'How are you feeling, give me a thumbs-up,'" Benavides said. "And a lot of times, they just go, 'So and so- this happened at school, and I got this message,' things like that."

Benavides said because of social media, she sees even more value in the slow process of learning how to dance or play an instrument. She added young people also are able to connect with each other through their in-person classes.

"You push a button, you get a picture. You edit a picture, you change everything in seconds," she said. "You can create all these things real quick, and it's not that way with drumming or dancing. You have to really work on that skill."

Priya Nambisan is an associate professor at UW-Milwaukee, and she directs the university's Social Media and Health Research and Training Lab. Nambisan said her research has found social media companies could do more to create safe online spaces for underage users.

"I don't advocate for social media being shut down," Nambisan said. "Social media companies should be responsible if there are negative mental health effects on adolescents."