Toronto, Ottawa and the Peel region have all entered a legal battle with major social media companies.
School districts in Canada's largest cities have filed lawsuits against leading social networks, accusing the companies of impairing children's mental health and learning. In particular, we are talking about the companies Meta Platforms Inc. (owner of Facebook*), ByteDance Ltd. (owner of TikTok) and Snap Inc. (owner of Snapchat), which are sued by the school districts of Toronto, Ottawa and the Peel region. The lawsuits filed on Wednesday seek compensation totaling about C $ 4.5 billion (US $ 3.3 billion).
Schools claim that these companies purposefully attract children to their products, contributing to the formation of dependent behavior in them, which not only creates problems in the educational process, but also makes students more vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation.
"The epidemic use of social media is causing an unprecedented mental health crisis among young people," the Toronto School Board said in a statement filed in the Ontario Superior Court. It is noted that the companies used their knowledge that the child's brain is particularly vulnerable to manipulation by their products.
School districts in Canada indicate that about half of Ontario's students suffer from lack of sleep, partly due to social media addiction, and psychological anxiety and dysmorphophobia have become commonplace. This has forced schools to spend millions on hiring social workers, youth counselors, and other staff.
According to the Ottawa-Carleton School District, educational institutions are often targeted by anonymous social media accounts that spread false accusations, hateful and offensive content against students and employees. However, companies often do not take action to remove such content. In addition, anonymous accounts increase the risk of bomb threats or shootings in schools, as well as provoke acts of vandalism, encouraging students to participate in new viral challenges that are gaining popularity in TikTok.
School districts in Canada's largest cities have filed lawsuits against leading social networks, accusing the companies of impairing children's mental health and learning. In particular, we are talking about the companies Meta Platforms Inc. (owner of Facebook*), ByteDance Ltd. (owner of TikTok) and Snap Inc. (owner of Snapchat), which are sued by the school districts of Toronto, Ottawa and the Peel region. The lawsuits filed on Wednesday seek compensation totaling about C $ 4.5 billion (US $ 3.3 billion).
Schools claim that these companies purposefully attract children to their products, contributing to the formation of dependent behavior in them, which not only creates problems in the educational process, but also makes students more vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation.
"The epidemic use of social media is causing an unprecedented mental health crisis among young people," the Toronto School Board said in a statement filed in the Ontario Superior Court. It is noted that the companies used their knowledge that the child's brain is particularly vulnerable to manipulation by their products.
School districts in Canada indicate that about half of Ontario's students suffer from lack of sleep, partly due to social media addiction, and psychological anxiety and dysmorphophobia have become commonplace. This has forced schools to spend millions on hiring social workers, youth counselors, and other staff.
According to the Ottawa-Carleton School District, educational institutions are often targeted by anonymous social media accounts that spread false accusations, hateful and offensive content against students and employees. However, companies often do not take action to remove such content. In addition, anonymous accounts increase the risk of bomb threats or shootings in schools, as well as provoke acts of vandalism, encouraging students to participate in new viral challenges that are gaining popularity in TikTok.
