Five Ontario school boards and two private religious schools have launched lawsuits against social media giants like TikTok, Snapchat and Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and other social apps).
The new suits come after the Toronto public and Catholic, Peel public and Ottawa-Carleton public school boards launched lawsuits totalling $4.5 billion in March. The Toronto Star reports that the new suits total nearly $2.6 billion and come from Ottawa, Dufferin-Peel and York Catholic school boards, as well as the Trillium Lakelands and District School Board of Niagara. Additionally, the Toronto-based Eitz Chaim Jewish day school and the Holy Name of Mary College School in Mississauga launched lawsuits.
The separate but similar lawsuits were filed in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice and allege that social media platforms impact the “way children think, behave, and learn.” The suits call on social media companies to make improvements. Additionally, the schools say they needed to bring in staff, resources and programming to address the issues.
The allegations haven’t been proven in court.
Neinstein LLP will represent the school boards and schools, and will take a contingency fee, meaning the boards and schools won’t pay out of pocket for legal costs.
A Snapchat spokesperson told the Star that the app was designed to be different from other social platforms and that the company “feel[s] good” about the role it plays in connecting friends.
A Meta spokesperson told the Star that the company has parents’ interests at heart. The spokesperson also highlighted various tools and technology Meta uses to protect and support teens and families, such as verifying ages and removing content related to suicide, self-injury, and eating disorders before it is reported to Meta.
While lawsuits in Canada remain limited, roughly 500 U.S. school districts have launched similar lawsuits against social media giants.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce haven’t been supportive of the lawsuits, with Ford previously saying that schools should “put all the resources into the kids.” Lecce recently introduced new legislation that will attempt to reduce children’s access to harmful online content and reached out to social media companies to work together on solutions.
Header image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Toronto Star
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