The Ford government and a group of Ontario school boards are slowly pursuing contrasting strategies to combat classroom distractions caused by social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram.
Government-led plans to meet with executives from major social media companies to discuss tackling distractions have been stalled by the sudden replacement of three education ministers, while school boards are preparing to sue the same companies for billions of dollars in damages.
In May, then-Education Secretary Stephen Lecce told reporters he wanted to meet with leaders of companies like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram to discuss ways to eliminate distractions from the classroom.
The announcement comes as the government is under pressure to back a school board lawsuit seeking billions of dollars in damages from the companies over disruptions to lessons and the apps’ alleged impact on children’s concentration.
Enlisting the help of social media giants
Rather than supporting lawsuits, Lecce said it was important to enlist the help of social media companies, who he suggested would know how to stop students from surreptitiously circumventing age-verification requirements and blocks that keep students focused in class.
“I look forward to that conversation and I believe they are willing to have that conversation in good faith,” Lecce told reporters on May 9.
“We believe social media companies also have a role to play and we will work with the government to get this right and keep classes focused on academics and remove distractions from lessons.”
The plans to send out invitations to meet with the social media giants have been pushed by the minister’s office and presented as a clear alternative to the approach being taken by the education committee.
Global News contacted the government in late August to ask if the plan was still a priority and what progress was being made. Initially, the Department of Education released a statement suggesting little progress was being made.
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“We are always open to meeting with any organisation that wants to work with us to find constructive solutions that protect students and help them realise their potential,” the spokesperson said.
Following repeated questioning, the government revised the statement to highlight progress, but it was then postponed when Todd Smith replaced Mr Lecce in June and when current Education Minister Jill Dunlop took over in August.
“We reached out to social media executives in June to discuss this issue, and we continue to work with all companies who want to provide constructive solutions that protect students online and help them reach their potential, including a focus on returning to basics in the classroom,” the revised statement said.
A ministry source told Global News that invitations had been sent and some discussions had taken place with social media companies, but did not specify which companies.
They stressed that discussions were ongoing and could not say when the meeting would take place or what the timeline would be, but said the strategy remained a priority for the government.
Chandra Pathma, education critic for the Ontario New Democratic Party, criticized the government for “failing to deliver” on promises to “protect children from the mental health effects of social media” in schools.
“Doug Ford and his politicians have been talking big about holding these companies accountable, but nothing has come of it,” she said in a statement to Global News.
“With multiple Ontario school boards suing and 42 U.S. attorneys general also suing, it’s time for the government to get serious about holding social media companies accountable for their actual actions.”
Suing social media companies
The school board lawsuit was filed by several school boards, including those in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa, and was against Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, Snap Inc., which owns Snapchat, and ByteDance Inc., which owns TikTok.
The group sought $4 billion in damages from social media companies, claiming that their products change the way children think, behave and learn, and that educators and schools have a role to play in “managing the fallout.”
Duncan Emberley, lead lawyer for the Ontario School Boards, told Global News the case is still in the “very early” stages and a case management judge has been selected to handle some of the early legal issues.
“Any time you hold a large company accountable or try to hold them accountable there will be resource and power mismatches, and that’s natural, but I believe there is a collegial process in place to allow the parties to explore the legal issues in an appropriate way,” he said.
Embery said the lawsuit was aimed at all the named social media companies for the way they allegedly tried to monopolise people’s attention, regardless of platform.
“What’s the same are the underlying algorithms that influence attention, and what we’re really focused on to capture attention are things like endless scrolling, constantly changing rewards, and other algorithms that are designed first and foremost to grab your eyeballs and keep you engaged for as long as possible,” he said.
“It has a negative impact on attention and concentration. And that’s really our (legal) focus.”
Embery said he expects other school boards may join the lawsuit in the coming months.
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https://globalnews.ca/news/10733251/ford-government-social-media-exec-meeting-plans-update/
