Four major school boards in Ontario, Canada, have filed a lawsuit against Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Snap (Snapchat), and ByteDance (TikTok) for a collective sum of $4.5 billion. The lawsuit alleges that these companies are negatively impacting student learning and the education system as a whole. According to the suit, social media platforms use manipulative strategies that promote compulsive use.
The lawsuit claims that social media platforms are designed to be addictive, leading to a crisis in student attention, learning, and mental health. It states that the constant influx of content and the desire for social validation cause various mental health challenges among students.
“The influence of social media on today’s youth at school cannot be denied. It leads to pervasive problems such as distraction, social withdrawal, cyberbullying, a rapid escalation of aggression, and mental health challenges,” says Colleen Russell-Rawlins, Director of Education, Toronto District School Board. “Therefore, it is imperative that we take steps to ensure the well-being of our youth. We are calling for measures to be implemented to mitigate these harms and prioritize the mental health and academic success of our future generation.”
According to school boards, excessive social media usage can result in a range of problems that can cause financial strain. They recommend allocating more resources to address these issues, including mental health programming and staff, greater IT expenses, and extra administrative resources.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit doesn’t only seek financial compensation for the alleged damage caused. It has two other key goals:
- Secure resources: The school boards hope to gain the resources needed to adequately support student programs and services in response to the problems caused by social media.
- Reform social media: They seek to pressure social media giants to redesign their products to prioritize user safety and well-being, particularly when it comes to student users.
“As the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, we are committed to the well-being of our students,” says Pino Buffone, Director of Education, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. “The crisis caused by social media giants is putting children and youths at risk. Our students, society’s next generation of leaders, deserve better.”
Not the first case
As you probably know, this isn’t the first time schools sued social media giants. There have been other instances of school districts in the United States suing social media companies over similar concerns. Seattle and Maryland school districts got the ball rolling in 2023, with other states joining later that year. New York City was the last to join the lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, accusing them of “fueling the nationwide youth mental health crisis.”
In the case of Ontario schools, Neinstein LLP, a Toronto-based litigation firm, will represent the school boards. They emphasize that the school boards will incur no costs associated with the lawsuit unless it is successful.
[via PetaPixel]
