RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond and Henrico public schools have joined hundreds of districts nationwide in a lawsuit against several major social media companies, alleging the platforms are addictive and harmful to children. The Richmond School Board voted unanimously to join the litigation durin g a meeting on Tuesday, April 14. Henrico County Public Schools made the same decision during a closed session last month. The lawsuit targets companies behind popular platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok and YouTube. The lawsuit claims that social media addiction has interfered with students’ education and forced districts to devote significant financial and staff resources to address the consequences. Megan Duncan, a Virginia Tech professor and social media expert, said districts have been pointing to the strain these platforms place on school systems. “Districts are pointing to the way that they have had to spend money, spend resources, spend time dealing with the mental health effects of social media in the classroom,” Duncan said. The legal action follows recent jury verdicts in New Mexico and California that found Meta responsible for causing harm to children. Meta owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, while YouTube, owned by Google, was also found liable in the California case. Duncan noted that growing awareness among parents may be contributing to the momentum behind these lawsuits. “I think we are starting to see the first generation of people who really grew up truly digital, become parents,” she said. “And so there’s way more self-awareness of not only what it did to your life, but concern about what it’s going to do to the next generation.” She added that the recent verdicts could signal broader legal action across the country. “While we only have a couple of isolated results in these first two lawsuits that have been successful, they very likely are to kick off a nationwide wave of people who have similar claims,” Duncan said. As the lawsuits move forward, Duncan encourages parents to closely monitor their children’s social media use and enforce regular breaks. Both Meta and Google have denied any wrongdoing and plan to appeal the verdicts. ...read more read less