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Quickly like your friend’s photo here and quickly post a video there: Social media such as Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat have been indispensable for some time, especially for young people, and have become an indispensable part of everyday life.
The heart of the matter: The platforms can have a major impact on the ability to concentrate. It’s not unusual that instead of the 15 minutes you’ve talked yourself into, you can easily spend many times that amount online.
Lawsuit against Meta, Snap and ByteDance
This is exactly what is currently being actively discussed in Canada. As the Newswire platform reports, four major school authorities there recently filed a lawsuit against some of the world’s largest social media companies. Authorities claim that the platforms disrupt students’ learning and have enormous addictive potential for children.
The Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board appear to be serious and are seeking as much as C$4 billion in damages from the tech giants. Specifically, the lawsuit is against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, against Snap Inc, which operates Snapchat, and against TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd.
In a statement, school officials wrote that the social media platforms were “carelessly designed for compulsive use and have rewired the way children think, behave and learn.” As a result of the excessive and compulsive use of social media, students are experiencing an “attention, learning and mental health crisis.”
The influence of social media cannot be denied
Although the lawsuits were each filed separately by school authorities, they are all against the same three recipients. “The influence of social media on today’s school youth is undeniable. It leads to profound problems such as distraction, social withdrawal, cyberbullying, rapid escalation of aggression and mental health issues,” said Colleen Russel Rawlins, director of education for the Toronto School District Board.
According to Rawlins, immediate measures must be taken to ensure the well-being of young people. For example, school authorities are calling for measures to reduce this harm and prioritize the mental health and academic success of the future generation.
Not everyone agrees with the lawsuit
It remains to be seen whether the school authorities will be successful in their lawsuit. However, the first voices have already stated that they do not think legal action against the tech giants is a good idea.
Ontario’s Conservative Premier Doug Ford, 59, said at a news conference on Thursday that he disagreed with the school board’s efforts.
“Let’s focus on the core values of education. Let’s focus on math, reading and writing. That’s what we have to do: put all the resources into the children. Let’s focus on the children and not on the other nonsense they are trying to fight in court.’
Snap Inc. points out the lack of likes and comments
Snap Inc., the company affected by the lawsuit, has also gone on the attack. A spokesperson told Canadian media that Snapchat is intentionally designed to be different from other platforms.
“Snapchat opens directly to a camera rather than a feed of content and has no traditional public likes or comments.” (ced)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
