Canadian schools sue social media giant for $4.5 billion

Schools in several major Canadian cities have filed legal actions against social media companies including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, claiming the platforms harm children’s mental health and educational progress.

School districts in Toronto, Ottawa and Peel Region filed separate lawsuits on Wednesday, collectively seeking about $4.5 billion in damages.

The legal action against Meta, TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. and Snapchat parent Snap Inc. alleges the companies intentionally target children with addictive products. This, in turn, can lead to chaotic classroom environments and increase the likelihood of children being sexually abused and exploited.

“Popular social media use is causing an unprecedented youth mental health crisis within Plaintiff’s school and its student body,” the Toronto District School Board said in a complaint filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

“Students’ use of social media has resulted in significant increases in rates of anxiety, depression, social media addiction, body dysmorphia, anorexia, low self-esteem, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, general loneliness, self-harm and suicide,” the report continues.

It claims the companies “leveraged their knowledge that the developing brains of children are particularly susceptible to manipulation by these social media products”.

Just this week (March 26), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill officially banning social media use by young children. Under new legislation set to be introduced on January 1, 2025, Florida will ban children 13 and younger from accessing social media, while 14- and 15-year-olds will need parental consent to go online.

The ongoing problem of social media

In January, social media executives testified at a U.S. Senate hearing aimed at addressing online child exploitation. The CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord and X (formerly Twitter) have shared their stances amid growing concerns and questions about how platforms consider their impact on children.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise apology to the parents of Senate victims. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” Zuckerberg said as parents showed photos of children who had died after being sexually exploited or harassed on social media platforms.

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel expressed similar sentiments about parents whose children are accessing illegal drugs through Snapchat. In late 2023, more than 60 parents of teenagers sued Snap, accusing the company of letting their children buy drugs that led to overdoses.

In October 2023, 33 states filed a massive lawsuit accusing Meta of intentionally designing its platform to be addictive and harmful to children’s mental health. The claims stem from internal research leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021, which showed 13.5% of teenage girls said Instagram exacerbated suicidal thoughts and 17% said Instagram exacerbated eating disorders.

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