WOODSTOCK, Va. (WHSV) – The Shenandoah County School Board joins several other school districts in suing TikTok and other social media platforms.

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been in the national spotlight for several months after facing a possible ban and lawsuit from the Department of Justice in the U.S. Staunton-based law firm Timberlake Smith gave the Shenandoah County School Board the opportunity to join a multi-district lawsuit against ByteDance and other social media companies.

In addition to ByteDance, the committee will also sue Snap Inc., the owner of Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta, and Google, which owns YouTube. The lawsuit alleges the companies violate children’s privacy and data and deliberately created the platforms to keep children addicted, which the committee says has led to a mental health crisis among school-age children.

Schools have to live with the consequences.

“This is having a significant impact on school districts across the country, including Shenandoah County Public Schools,” said School Board member Brandi Rutz. “It is leading to an increase in student behavior problems and disruptions to the learning environment, requiring staff and school resources to address these issues and their impacts.”

The board stated that joining the lawsuit would have no financial impact and unanimously approved the request. The Shenandoah County School Board joins 400 school districts nationwide and 15 in Virginia.

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