Unfriended: Public Nuisance Applied to Social Media

This Note will examine public plaintiffs’ use of the public nuisance tort to bring lawsuits against social-media companies. In the last several years, school districts have used public nuisance to bring suits against companies like JUUL, who they believed targeted children to addict them to their products. While other suits were brought alongside the school districts’ public nuisance claim, the JUUL litigation resulted in a staggering $1.7 billion settlement in March of 2023. Following the success of the JUUL litigation, school districts started using public nuisance to target social-media companies, and several lawsuits around the country are now underway. At least two of the public nuisance lawsuits have survived motions to dismiss and have cleared Section 230 and First Amendment issues. This Note will address the complications of school districts’ public nuisance allegations and look to the history of public nuisance, especially as it has been applied to cases that involve products. Additionally, this Note will analyze what success looks like for school districts, specifically whether abatement is a possible remedy. This Note will look to previous public nuisance settlements to see what other potential routes social-media companies might take if abatement is not a possible remedy.

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