This case was last updated from U.S. District Courts on 04/16/2023 at 06:00:33 (UTC).

Seattle School District No 1 v. Meta Platforms, Inc. et al

Case Summary

On January 6, 2023, Seattle School District No. 1 (“Plaintiff” or “Seattle Public Schools”), represented by Dean N. Kawamoto of Keller Rohrback LLP, filed a civil action against Meta Platforms, Inc., Facebook Holdings, LLC, Facebook Operations, LLC, Meta Payments Inc., Facebook Technologies, LLC, Instagram, LLC, Siculus, Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok Inc., ByteDance Inc., Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, XXVI Holdings Inc., and YouTube, LLC (collectively, “Defendants”), seeking injunctive and equitable relief for alleged violations of the Washington Public Nuisance Law by the defendants. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, with Judge John H. Chun presiding.

In the complaint, the plaintiff stated, “Defendants growth is a product of choices they made to design and operate their platforms in ways that exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users into spending more and more time on their platforms. These techniques are both particularly effective and harmful to the youth audience Defendants have intentionally cultivated, creating a mental health crisis among America’s youth.”

Plaintiff further stated that “Defendants have done so for profit. Their business models are based on advertisements. The more time users spend on their platforms, the more ads Defendants can sell. Youths are central to Defendants’ business models. Youths are more likely to have a phone, to use social media, and to have downtime to spend on Defendants’ social media platforms. Plus, youth influence the behavior of their parents and younger siblings.”

The plaintiff alleged, “Defendants have maximized the time users—particularly youth—spend on their platforms by purposely designing, refining, and operating them to exploit the neurophysiology of the brain’s reward systems to keep users coming back, coming back frequently, and staying on the respective platforms for as long as possible. Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants’ social media platforms.”

The plaintiff further alleged, “Defendants’ misconduct has been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis, which has been marked by higher and higher proportions of youth struggling with anxiety, depression, thoughts of self-harm, and suicidal ideation. The rates at which children have struggled with mental health issues have climbed steadily since 2010 and by 2018 made suicide the second leading cause of death for youths. The pandemic and the corresponding increase in time youth spend on Defendants’ platforms has only intensified this crisis.”

Plaintiff additionally alleged, “The state of children’s mental health led the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association to declare a national emergency, and the U.S. Surgeon General to issue an advisory ‘to highlight the urgent need to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis.’”

The plaintiff also alleged, “Students experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues perform worse in school, are less likely to attend school, more likely to engage in substance use, and to act out, all of which directly affects Seattle Public Schools’ ability to fulfill its educational mission. That is why Plaintiff, like 96 percent of other schools, provides mental health services to its students.”

Plaintiff stated one claim for the alleged violations of the Washington Public Nuisance Law, pursuant to Revised Code of Washington 7.48.010 et seq.

In its prayer for relief, the plaintiff requested a judgment for injunctive and equitable relief. The plaintiff also requested an award for actual and compensatory damages along with reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the plaintiff.

Case Details Parties Documents Dockets

 

Case Details

  • Case Number:

    2:23-CV-00032

  • Filing Date:

    01/06/2023

  • Case Status:

    Disposed - Other Disposed

  • Case Type:

    Property - Land

Judge Details

Presiding Judge

Richard A. Jones

 

Party Details

Plaintiff

Seattle School District No 1

Defendants

Google LLC

Meta Platforms Inc

Facebook Holdings LLC

Facebook Operations LLC

Meta Payments Inc

Facebook Technologies LLC

Attorney/Law Firm Details

Plaintiff Attorneys

Felicia Craick

Garrett Heilman

Gregory C Narver, I

Cari Campen Laufenberg

Derek W Loeser

Dean N Kawamoto

 

Court Documents

#22

(#22) TRANSFERRED CASE opened in California Northern District as case 4:23-cv-00987 on 3/3/2023. (SB) (Entered: 03/03/2023)

21 #1

Email re transfer

#21

(#21) MDL 3047 CONDITIONAL TRANSFER ORDER (CTO 3); in re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation; transferred to the Northern District of California; assigned to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. (Attachments: #1 Email re transfer) (LH) (Entered: 02/27/2023)

#20

(#20) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on TikTok Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

#19

(#19) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Snap Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

#18

(#18) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Meta Platforms, Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

#17

(#17) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Meta Payments Inc. on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

#16

(#16) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Google LLC on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

#15

(#15) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Facebook Technologies, LLC on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

1 #13

Summons TikTok Inc.

1 #11

Summons Siculus, Inc.

1 #10

Summons Meta Platforms, Inc.

1 #8

Summons Instagram, LLC

1 #6

Summons Facebook Technologies, LLC

1 #4

Summons Facebook Holdings, LLC

1 #2

Summons Alphabet Inc.

1 #1

Civil Cover Sheet

#1

(#1) COMPLAINT against All Defendants with JURY DEMAND (Receipt # AWAWDC-7838927) Attorney Dean N Kawamoto added to party Seattle School District No 1(pty:pla), filed by Seattle School District No 1. (Attachments: #1 Civil Cover Sheet, #2 Summons Alphabet Inc., #3 Summons ByteDance Inc., #4 Summons Facebook Holdings, LLC, #5 Summons Facebook Operations, LLC, #6 Summons Facebook Technologies, LLC, #7 Summons Google LLC, #8 Summons Instagram, LLC, #9 Summons Meta Payments Inc., #10 Summons Meta Platforms, Inc., #11 Summons Siculus, Inc., #12 Summons Snap Inc., #13 Summons TikTok Inc., #14 Summons XXVI Holdings Inc., #15 Summons YouTube, LLC)(Kawamoto, Dean) (Attachment 1 replaced on 1/9/2023 due to malformed PDF) (CDA). (Entered: 01/06/2023)

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Docket Entries

  • 03/03/2023
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  • Docket(#22) TRANSFERRED CASE opened in California Northern District as case 4:23-cv-00987 on 3/3/2023. (SB) (Entered: 03/03/2023)

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  • 02/27/2023

  • DocketCase transferred to the Northern District of California by electronic case transfer on 2/27/2023. (LH) (Entered: 02/27/2023)

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  • 02/27/2023
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  • Docket(#21) MDL 3047 CONDITIONAL TRANSFER ORDER (CTO 3); in re Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation; transferred to the Northern District of California; assigned to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. (Attachments: #1 Email re transfer) (LH) (Entered: 02/27/2023)

    [+] Read More [-] Read Less
  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#20) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on TikTok Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#19) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Snap Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#18) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Meta Platforms, Inc. on 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#17) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Meta Payments Inc. on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#16) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Google LLC on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#15) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Facebook Technologies, LLC on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#14) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on ByteDance Inc. on 1/11/2023 1/12/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) Modified on 1/23/2023 correct date at request of filer (CDA). (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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4 More Docket Entries
  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#9) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Facebook Operations, LLC on 1/10/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#8) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Facebook Holdings, LLC on 1/10/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/23/2023
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  • Docket(#7) AFFIDAVIT of Service of Summons and Complaint on Alphabet Inc. on 1/10/2023, filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/23/2023)

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  • 01/17/2023
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  • Docket(#6) NOTICE of Pendency of Other Action in Northern District of California, case number(s) in other court MDL No. 3047 ; filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/17/2023)

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  • 01/12/2023
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  • Docket(#5) NOTICE of Change of Address/Change of Name of Attorney Garrett Heilman. Filed by Plaintiff Seattle School District No 1. (Heilman, Garrett) (Entered: 01/12/2023)

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  • 01/11/2023
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  • Docket(#4) STANDING ORDER for Civil Cases Assigned to Judge Richard A. Jones. (VE) (Entered: 01/11/2023)

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  • 01/10/2023
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  • Docket(#3) MINUTE ORDER: The Honorable John H. Chun recuses himself and the case is reassigned in rotation to the Honorable Richard A. Jones. All future pleadings shall bear the case number 2:23-cv-00032-RAJ. Authorized by Judge John H. Chun. (SB) (Entered: 01/10/2023)

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  • 01/09/2023
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  • Docket(#2) Summons(es) Electronically Issued as to defendant(s) Alphabet Inc, ByteDance Inc, Facebook Holdings LLC, Facebook Operations LLC, Facebook Technologies LLC, Google LLC, Instagram LLC, Meta Payments Inc, Meta Platforms Inc, Siculus Inc, Snap Inc, TikTok Inc, XXVI Holdings Inc, YouTube LLC (MJV) (Entered: 01/09/2023)

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  • 01/09/2023

  • DocketJudge John H. Chun added. (MJV) (Entered: 01/09/2023)

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  • 01/06/2023
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  • Docket(#1) COMPLAINT against All Defendants with JURY DEMAND (Receipt # AWAWDC-7838927) Attorney Dean N Kawamoto added to party Seattle School District No 1(pty:pla), filed by Seattle School District No 1. (Attachments: #1 Civil Cover Sheet, #2 Summons Alphabet Inc., #3 Summons ByteDance Inc., #4 Summons Facebook Holdings, LLC, #5 Summons Facebook Operations, LLC, #6 Summons Facebook Technologies, LLC, #7 Summons Google LLC, #8 Summons Instagram, LLC, #9 Summons Meta Payments Inc., #10 Summons Meta Platforms, Inc., #11 Summons Siculus, Inc., #12 Summons Snap Inc., #13 Summons TikTok Inc., #14 Summons XXVI Holdings Inc., #15 Summons YouTube, LLC)(Kawamoto, Dean) (Attachment 1 replaced on 1/9/2023 due to malformed PDF) (CDA). (Entered: 01/06/2023)

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