Crisis of attention, learning and increasing depression among students. Several Canadian schools launched lawsuits against Instagram, TikTok but also Snapchat on Thursday, believing that the impact of social networks on the school system is “irrefutable”.
These school groups from Toronto and Ottawa, located in Ontario, Canada's most populous province, believe that these platforms designed for "compulsive use" have changed the way children "think, behave and learn". And in the end, it is teachers and schools who must manage the fallout.
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This is the first time that such an approach has been undertaken in Canada. Across the border, American schools launched the same lawsuits in 2023. This complaint targets Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, the Chinese TikTok and its parent company Byte Dance, but also Snap which owns Snapchat.
“Responsible for the damage caused to our schools”
“Social media companies should be held accountable for their negligence and the harm they have caused to our schools and our community as a whole,” says Duncan Embury, litigation manager for the Ottawa-Carleton school group, in a press release. The institutions are seeking damages for disruption to student learning and the education system.
“The repercussions of the compulsive use of social networks among students place considerable pressure on limited resources,” say the schools, which evoke the need to release additional resources for programs and personnel specialized in mental health.