TORONTO — Ontario school boards pursuing legal action against several social media companies over the alleged effects of their platforms on students have continued to advance their cases, with the litigation expanding to include additional school boards and schools after it was first launched in 2024 and surviving an early court challenge.
The lawsuits have become one of Canada's most closely watched education-related legal proceedings, reflecting broader efforts by education authorities to hold technology companies accountable for the impact they say social media platforms have had on student learning and school resources. Similar legal actions have also been filed by school districts in the United States over youth mental health and the design of social media products.
The original actions were filed by the Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board against Meta Platforms, Snap Inc. and ByteDance, whose services include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. The boards allege the platforms were negligently designed for compulsive use and have disrupted student learning while increasing demands on schools for mental health, administrative and technology resources. The claims have not been proven in court, and the companies have denied wrongdoing or defended their products.
According to the Schools for Social Media Change alliance, additional Ontario public, Catholic and independent schools later joined the litigation, bringing the total number of participating schools and boards to 14. The organization said the expanded actions seek to recover costs that schools attribute to addressing the effects of excessive social media use and to encourage changes in platform design.
In March 2025, the Ontario Superior Court rejected a motion by the defendant companies to dismiss the lawsuits at an early stage. Justice Janet Leiper ruled that the claims could proceed, allowing the litigation to continue through the court process without deciding the merits of the allegations.
Following that ruling, Duncan Embury, partner and head of litigation at Neinstein LLP, which represents the school boards, said in a statement released by the Schools for Social Media Change alliance: "This is the first step in achieving justice for the education system, and ultimately the next generation of leaders."
The defendant companies have previously disputed the allegations. Snap has said Snapchat was designed to help users communicate with close friends rather than encourage broad public engagement, while Meta has said it has introduced tools and safeguards intended to support younger users. Public responses from ByteDance have varied over the course of the litigation.
As of late June 2026, the lawsuits remained before the Ontario courts. No trial judgment on the underlying claims had been issued, and the allegations by the school boards and the responses from the companies had not been judicially determined.
