As studies on the harmful effects of social media on young people become the subject of scientific study, an increasing number of measures and appeals against the web giants are launched, and this is a very good new.
In Ontario, the largest school boards announced Thursday that they are suing Meta, Snap and ByteDance (TikTok).
They are seeking damages for disruption to student learning and the education system. They accuse these networks of having “negligently” designed products for compulsive use that changed children’s behavior.
The fact that the subject is increasingly documented opens the door to this type of appeal.
In the dark
For several years, we have known that these companies use strategies aimed at creating dependency among users, in order to obtain as much revenue as possible. Former leaders began to testify to this a few years ago, and even founded the Center for Humane Technology to denounce these ways of doing things.
- Listen to the column by Karine Gagnon, political columnist at JDM and JDQ via QUB :
We also know to what extent leaders fail to provide methods for moderating violence and disinformation. This causes great harm to our democracies, affecting mental health and social relationships.
Costly
No one yet knows how to properly supervise these networks. In Florida, a law was adopted on Monday prohibiting young people aged 14 and under from having accounts on social networks.
This will certainly be difficult to apply. But it sends a signal about the importance of better supervision, about the fact that the authorities understand the negative impacts on young people, and that they intend to take action.
Because after all, the day these web giants start to find that it costs them quite a lot in recourse, perhaps they will be more keen to mark up social networks. Money is the crux of the matter here too.