Social Media Giants Sued for Disruptive Impact on Canada’s Largest School System

Beasley Allen, in partnership with Neinstein LLP, a Toronto-based civil litigation firm, is leading legal action against tech giants Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Snapchat and TikTok on behalf of Ontario’s largest school boards.

The $4.5 billion lawsuit represents the Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. It alleges that social media products have disrupted student learning and the education system by reprogramming how children think, behave and learn.

Beasley Allen and Neinstein LLP argue that social media products have been negligently designed for compulsive use, causing massive strains on the four school boards’ finite resources, including increased IT costs, additional administrative resources and the need for in-school mental health programming and personnel.

The litigation aims to equip school boards with the resources necessary to support student programming and services while addressing the school-based problems caused by social media giants.

“As a law firm that has been at the forefront of social media lawsuits, Beasley Allen is committed to holding social media companies accountable for not just harms in the United States, but for their actions internationally. These lawsuits continue to warn social media companies that they will be held accountable for their actions, not only by the adolescents they have harmed but also by those who support our youth. Beasley Allen seeks to ensure that our Canadian clients receive the support and resources they need to hold these companies accountable,” Beasley Allen’s Joseph VanZandt said.

VanZandt serves as co-lead counsel in the largest U.S.-based litigation against the social media giants, the California state court consolidated action (JCCP) based in Los Angeles. That litigation consists of over 620 personal injury plaintiffs from 40 states and 546 school district plaintiffs from 35 states. VanZandt also serves on the Plaintiff Steering Committee for the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Beasley Allen began filing social media personal injury lawsuits nationwide in 2022 for adolescents harmed by social media addiction. Additionally, our firm represents hundreds of school districts and government entities across the United States in claims of nuisance and negligence resulting from social media’s harmful impact.