Five more Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of many social media platforms, including Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok.
In a recent news release issued, advocacy group Schools for Social Media Change confirmed that the lawsuit, which was initially launched by four Ontario school boards in March it now includes the York Catholic District School Board, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, the Trillium Lakeland District School Board, the Ottawa Catholic District School Board, the District School Board of Niagara, and two private schools which include Eitz Chaim in North York and Holy Name of Mary College School in Mississauga.
The Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the Ottawa Carleton District School Board announced in March that they had launched suits to seek $4.5 billion in damages against the owners of the social media platforms for establishing products that allegedly interfered negligently with student learning and have caused “widespread disruption to the education system.”
None of the allegations have however been proven in court.
The legal action came as hundreds of school districts in the United States file similar suits.
In a recent news release issued, Schools for Social Media change said: “The mix of public and Catholic school boards, and private schools in both urban and rural regions of Ontario demonstrate this is a universal issue that affects those from diverse cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.”
The school boards are represented Neinstein LLP, a law firm based in Toronto. The firm previously stated that the school boards “will not be responsible for any costs related to the lawsuit unless a successful outcome is reached.”
While talking to journalists, Mike Wolkowicz, Head of Mass Torts at Neinstein LLP, said “What we are hoping to get out of this is multifaceted. We are hoping number one to affect change, to bring attention to this issue that the schools and school boards are so concerned about.
“And number two to provide compensation and resources to the schools and school boards with the intention of bettering the student experience and helping the education system better confront these challenges.”
This spring, the government of Ontario announced a new set of rules to crack down on the use of cellphone in schools. The measures will go into effect in the 2024-25 academic year and they include a ban on social media sites on every school network and device.
From September, students in kindergarten to Grade 6 will be asked to keep their phones on silent and out of sight for the entire school day, unless allowed by an educator.
Students between grades 7 and 12 will not be allowed to use phones during class time.