An Open Letter to American School Districts: Disable YouTube and Gemini AI on School-Issued Devices and Ensure Student Safety

What the letter says

Among other things, the letter explains that:

1. More than 1,000 school districts have sued YouTube, alleging that YouTube addicts and harms children – and that “[c]ompulsive use of YouTube by school children is causing serious problems for students and school districts” § I.a
2. Many of the school districts that have sued YouTube still allow their students to access YouTube on their school-issued devices – a decision that cannot be reconciled with their allegations that YouTube addicts and harms children. § I.a
3. A California jury has now found that YouTube is “dangerous or likely to be dangerous to minors when used in a reasonably foreseeable way,” and even awarded punitive damages against YouTube for acting with “malice, oppression, or fraud.” § I.b
4. Lawsuits have also been filed against Google for harms to students allegedly caused by school-issued Chromebook laptops and Google’s Chrome internet browser. § I.d
5. Google denies that it can be held legally accountable for harms to children allegedly caused by its products, like YouTube, the Chrome internet browser, and the Chromebook. Instead, Google consistently argues that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act amounts to a legal forcefield that protects Google from legal liability in these cases. § I.c
6. Google consistently tries to shift the legal risks from its products to school districts – and, ultimately, to their taxpayers. Google has even convinced school districts to indemnify Google for a wide variety of legal risks associated with its products. § I.d
7. When students have allegedly been harmed by Google products on school-issued devices, Google has blamed the school districts – even where Google’s administrator tools sold to school districts have allegedly failed to work as promised to protect students. § I.d
8. Without asking parents or schools for permission in advance, Google enabled its Gemini AI chatbot for millions of American students on school-issued devices, allowing students to have open-ended conversations with an AI chatbot on their school-issued device. § I.f
9. Common Sense Media has rated Gemini K–12 as “high risk” and found that Gemini K–12 “surfaces inappropriate content, poses mental health risks, and has poor boundaries” § I.f

Who received it

The 150 largest districts, by enrollment

Paper copies of the letter were sent to school district leadership for each of the 150 largest public school districts in the country. Together, they enroll approximately 12.5 million students, representing around 25% of all U.S. public school students, using federal enrollment figures for the 2024–25 school year.

Approximately two-thirds of those 150 districts have already filed suit in the federal multidistrict litigation against Meta, TikTok, Snap and/or YouTube.

See the full list of districts →

For families in one of the 150 districts that received the letter

Your district has already received the letter. You can help make sure it gets read and makes a difference.

Here are some ideas on how you can follow up:

1. Confirm with your school board that the letter was received.
2. Express your concern(s) in writing.
3. Ask about the three actions the letter requests. Is YouTube accessible to students on district devices? Is Gemini AI enabled? Will the district review the available, comprehensive data on student internet use on school-issued devices?
4. Ask if your school district has joined the multidistrict litigation, and check the court docket for yourself. Open the “Parties and Attorneys” tab and search for your district's name.
5. Ask what your district plans to do to ensure student safety and reduce the districts’ legal risks from Google products.

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