Four Canadian school boards are seeking over $4 billion ($2.96 billion U.S.) in damages from social media firms like Facebook parent Meta, Snap and TikTok owner Bytedance in a lawsuit alleging that their social media platforms are harming students.
The legal action was filed on March 28 by the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, all within the province of Ontario, Reuters reported Thursday.
In a joint statement, the boards said that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok were "negligently designed for compulsive use," and "have rewired the way children think, behave and learn."
Such effects, they allege, have caused learning and mental health crises in students, resulting in the schools having to invest more in support programs.
Several studies have shown that platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be addictive, and their prolonged use can lead to anxiety and depression.
It was previously reported that 33 US states sued Meta last year, accusing that its product caused mental health issues among young children and teenagers.
Most recently, Meta was also one of the big tech firms targeted by a European Union investigation into alleged antitrust violations under the European Digital Markets Act. Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance joined Mark Zuckerberg's firm in the investigations.
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