Social media use, so says the lawsuit, has altered students’ mental wiring and damaged their ability to learn and fully participate in school. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock Images.
The District School Board of Niagara has joined with several other Ontario school boards in filing a lawsuit against a handful of social media giants.
The lawsuit argues that social media has negatively reprogramed the current generation of students across Ontario, Canada and much of the developed world.
The lawsuit is being led by umbrella group Schools for Social Media Change. The school boards are collectively being represented by Toronto firm Neinstein LLP, a self-described personal injury law firm.
On its website, the Schools for Social Media Change states, “Social media products, designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn. Our schools are unfairly bearing the brunt of the learning and mental health epidemic caused by the alleged negligent conduct of social media companies.”
Therefore, Schools for Social Media Change notes that participant school boards have opted to “demand accountability from social media tech giants” through a lawsuit.
The website also cites data from CAMH that 91 per cent of Ontario students in middle and high school use social media daily and 31 per cent of these students use social media for five hours or more a day.
This social media use, so says the lawsuit, has altered students’ mental wiring and damaged their ability to learn and fully participate in school.
The school boards that have joined the lawsuit are seeking more than $7 billion in damages.
The suit originally began with the support of public school boards in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa-Carleton, as well as Toronto’s Catholic School Board.
As of last week, several other Ontario public school boards have signed onto the lawsuit. This includes Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, York Catholic District School Board, Trillium Lakeland District School Board, Ottawa Catholic School Board, as well as the District School Board of Niagara.
Other private schools have joined the lawsuit as well. That includes the Holy Name of Mary College School in Mississauga and Eitz Chaim schools in Toronto and Thornhill.
The lawsuit targets the parent companies of Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
The parent companies have defended their social media operations and most pointed to tools they’ve added to the platforms to help protect kids.
The lawsuit hasn’t generated any support from the government at Queen’s Park, with Premier Doug Ford calling the move “nonsense.”
However, Marian Reimer Friesen, the District School Board of Niagara’s Superintendent of Curriculum and Student Achievement (Elementary), says the board felt compelled to participate and pointed to the need to advocate for students’ mental health.
“We do believe that we’re doing what’s right for our students,” said Reimer Friesen in a media interview with another outlet.
Many legal experts see little to no avenue for legal success, although proponents have suggested that they hope the lawsuit will encourage social media companies to pursue change and greater student restrictions regardless of a potential legal outcome.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
