Canadian School Boards File a $4.4 billion lawsuit
Canadian in a lawsuit, four school boards in Canada have demanded more than C$4 billion ($2.96 billion) in damages from social media companies including Snap and Meta Platforms, claiming that their products caused harm to kids.
According to a joint statement released by the boards on Thursday, the goods are “negligently designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave and learn” canadian.
They said that as a result, pupils have had academic and mental health crises, forcing the schools to increase their funding for support services.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the addictive nature of social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, as well as the potential for anxiety and despair with continued usage.
Thirty-three U.S. states had sued Meta last year, claiming that its product was the cause of young children’s and teens’ mental health problems.
TikTok, the Chinese company ByteDance’s micro–video social media platform, is also included in the Canadian case. The Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board are the parties that initiated the action. The boards have affiliations with more than a thousand schools. They are being represented by Neinstein LLP, a Toronto-based legal company.