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Four schools in Canada have filed lawsuits against Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, global social media giants. The schools are accusing the platforms of disrupting students’ learning.
This legal action follows similar lawsuits in the United States of America (USA).
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In the USA, the Maryland School District and local education authorities sued Facebook, Instagram’s parent company Meta, as well as TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.
They accused these organizations of contributing to a “mental health crisis” among young people.
The recent lawsuit from Canada has brought significant attention to the social media giants.
Three school boards in Toronto and one in Ottawa filed separate statements of claim with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking at least Can$4 billion (US$3 billion) from Meta, Snap, and ByteDance. The schools are also urging the companies to redesign their apps to be less addictive.
The Toronto District School Board alleged that the companies “negligently designed and marketed addictive products” that are “rewiring the way that (students) think, act, behave, and learn.”
They highlighted issues such as student attention and focus problems, social withdrawal, increased cyberbullying, and aggressive behaviors due to social media use.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board stated, “Students are experiencing an attention, learning, and mental health crisis because of prolific and compulsive use of social media products.”
This has put a strain on the school boards’ resources, leading to additional needs for in-school mental health programming and personnel, increased IT costs, and additional administrative resources.
These lawsuits in Canada come shortly after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law restricting social media access for minors under 16.
This law was partly in response to concerns over the platforms’ effects on teen mental health. However, it has also raised concerns about setting a precedent for restricting free speech online.
The legal action taken by Canadian schools against Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat is likely to prompt similar discussions in other regions where these platforms are widely used by young people and are associated with various social issues.
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