A class-action lawsuit against several social media companies has been launched by a Montreal man who alleges that the platforms have caused harm from being too addictive.
Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, were listed as defendants in the lawsuit, as well as TikTok, YouTube and Reddit.
The plaintiff is being represented by Lambert Avocats, a Montreal law firm, which argues that the high levels of dopamine received by users from these platforms has led to negative effects on their mental health and self-esteem.
The 24-year-old plaintiff alleges that he’s suffered from low productivity and a poor sense of body image as a result of using these social media apps for up to four hours per day since he first started using them in 2015.
According to the class-action suit, he has since reduced his time to roughly two hours daily.
However, the lawsuit cannot proceed until first authorized by a judge.
Lambert Avocats is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, however, a judge must authorize the lawsuit before it can proceed.
According to Lambert intern Philippe Brault, many people have contacted the firm since Monday, following the class action lawsuit’s announcement.
“In 2024, it’s estimated that humanity as a whole will be using social media for a total of 500 million years,” Brault told CTV News. “That just goes to show that it’s not a problem for a certain number of individuals, it’s a widespread problem for everyone.”
The lawsuit alleges that platform creators have been intentionally negligent in creating addictive platforms, designed to make users dependent on them.
“We’re also looking to get this message out there by talking to the media,” said Brault. “People have to understand the risks to the use of social media.”
However, the social media platforms argue that users do so entirely on a voluntary basis and that they are free to limit their use or delete such apps at any time if they feel they are experiencing adverse effects.
Several Ontario public and private school boards have also filed lawsuits against the same tech giants on similar grounds of having addictive and unsafe effects on students’ mental health.
The lawsuits argue that educators have been left to manage the fallout of these effects on students on their own.
“The defendants chose to maximize profits at the expense of student well-being and without due regard to the foreseeable harm and damage caused,” read the statement of claims from March.
The suits are seeking $4.5 billion from the tech giants in damages for what they refer to as “widespread disruption to the education system.”
Meta, Youtube, TikTok and Reddit did not respond to requests for comment from True North.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has criticized the school board lawsuits as “nonsense,” saying that they are a distraction from what is really important.
“Let’s focus on math, reading and writing. That is what we need to do, put all the resources into the kids,” said Ford during a March press conference in Ottawa.
“What are they spending lawyers fees to go after these massive companies that have endless cash to fight this? Let’s focus on the kids, not this other nonsense that they are looking to fight in court.”