Blaming TikTok for harming students is easy. Proving it isn’t

Social media addiction is a growing concern and tech companies face an onslaught of litigation as a result. — Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

About half of adolescents have had a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, and some school districts are putting at least part of the blame on social media companies that they say addict America’s youth.

It won’t be easy to prove in court, but Seattle schools will try, having sued over the issue. They blame companies like Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok Inc., for contributing to the mental health crisis among students and say the addictive apps interfere with their ability to fulfill their educational mission.