Jakarta –

Four school boards in Canada are suing three social media companies, Snapchat, TikTok and Meta. The reason is that social media is disrupting the education system of students.

The school boards in Canada suing are the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

This is the largest school board in the province of Ontario, Canada, alleging that the companies “negligently designed and marketed addictive products” that interfered with the school board's mandate, as reported AP, end of March 2024, written Thursday (11/3/2024).

“Teachers are spending more time in the classroom monitoring problems caused by social media and are forced to restructure programs to meet the accommodation needs of students with significant attention, concentration and mental health problems; as well as the changing behavioral dynamics of the large student population, resulting in massive changes and resource needs,” reads a release from the Toronto District School Board.

The rise in compulsive use of social media, the school board's statement continued, among students is placing enormous pressure on the school board's limited resources.

The lawsuit targets Meta Platforms Inc, owner of Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc, owner of Snapchat, and ByteDance Ltd, owner of TikTok.

Ask social media companies to be responsible

Duncan Embury, a lawyer representing the school board, said in a statement that the developers of the world's most advanced technology knowingly and negligently designed their products to maximize the time young people spend on their platforms, to the detriment of their well-being. -be. existence and education.

“Social media companies must be held accountable for their negligence and the harm they have caused to our schools and our community at large,” Embury demanded.

Snap Inc spokeswoman Tonya Johnson said Snapchat helps its users stay in touch with their friends.

“Snapchat opens directly to the camera – not a content feed – and has no public likes or comments,” he said.

“While we still have work to do, we're excited about Snapchat's role in helping close friends feel connected, happy, and prepared for the many challenges of adolescence,” Johnson added.

Meanwhile, representatives for Meta and ByteDance did not immediately respond to the confirmation sent by AP.

Social media use among adolescents is almost universal in many parts of the world.

Dozens of U.S. states, including California and New York, are also suing Meta Platforms Inc. for harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that keep children addicted platforms.

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(nwk/pal)