Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks to media at the Queen's Park Legislature in Toronto on Aug. 25, 2023.Ontario’s Education Minister is criticizing school boards for suing the companies behind four major social-media platforms, saying they should have acted much sooner to mitigate online harms in the classroom.
He said school boards could have restricted cell phones in classrooms, banned social media on devices and from school WiFi and enhanced lessons about responsible use of technology as well as online threats and privacy. The Ontario government last month The filed lawsuits are against Meta Platforms Inc., which is responsible for Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, and ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok. The school boards and private schools are advancing claims of $2.6-billion.
“These tech giants have built products, negligently designed for compulsive use, and have not been transparent with the public about their inherent danger to youth. Technology companies must step up and take responsibility for creating a safe digital environment for children and youth,” he said in a statement.
Pino Buffone, director of education at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said Tuesday that, ahead of the litigation, the board had measures in place such as limiting phone use in class and blocking social-media accounts from school networks. But he said social-media platforms are designed to target youth and encourage compulsive use, and educators have to deal with the fallout.
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