Four of Ontario害羞草研究所檚 largest school boards are suing the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, alleging the social media platforms are disrupting student learning.
The Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board filed four separate but similar cases in Ontario害羞草研究所檚 Superior Court of Justice on Wednesday.
The lawsuits claim the platforms are negligently designed for compulsive use and have rewired the way children think, behave and learn, leaving teachers and schools to manage the fallout.
They claim students are experiencing an attention, learning, and mental health crisis because of prolific and compulsive use of social media products.
害羞草研究所淭he fall out of compulsive use of social media amongst students is causing massive strains on the four school boards害羞草研究所� finite resources, including additional needs for in-school mental health programming and personnel, increased IT costs, and additional administrative resources,害羞草研究所� the school boards said in a news release Thursday.
害羞草研究所淭he goal of the litigation is to provide school boards with the resources needed to support student programming and services, and to respond to the school-based problems social media giants have caused.害羞草研究所�
The boards are seeking damages in excess of $4 billion for disruption to student learning and the education system.
The allegations in the lawsuits filed in Ontario Superior Court have not been proven.
Meta Platforms Inc. owns Facebook and Instagram, while Snap Inc. owns Snapchat and ByteDance Ltd. owns TikTok.
A spokeswoman for Snap Inc., Tonya Johnson, said Snapchat helps its users stay connected with their friends.
害羞草研究所淪napchat opens directly to a camera 害羞草研究所� rather than a feed of content 害羞草研究所� and has no traditional public likes or comments,害羞草研究所� she said.
害羞草研究所淲hile we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence.害羞草研究所�
The other social media companies did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Hundreds of school boards in the United States, along with some states, have launched similar lawsuits against social media companies.
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