Major social media companies such as TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook have been sued by a 24-year-old Canadian man leading the way in a class-action lawsuit claiming that their platforms are “too addictive”.
Addiction and negligence claims
According to Dexerto report, the man was represented by Lambert Avocats, a Montreal-based law firm. The company argues that these social media platforms are intentionally designed in such a manner that they raise dopamine levels therefore encouraging addiction of the users. The lawsuit states that he started using social media from 2015 and since then, his productivity has become affected and he is experiencing body image problems.
Despite restricting himself to two hours of social media on per day basis, he still claims that the apps affect his sleep negatively as well as overall productivity. Both compensatory and punitive damages have been asked for by Lambert Avocats which contends that companies were negligent during their app designing thus making them more dependent to it according to him.
Uncertain legality
This suit will not continue unless it gets authorization from a judge. In an interview with one of Lambert Avocat’s representatives named Philippe Brault who said that this problem is very widespread when he said: “By 2024 humanity will have spent 500 million years on it throughout history as a species. It clearly shows it’s not an issue for some people; rather it affects everyone.”
Additionally there are also arguments put forward by Brault about Canadian children aged between seven and eleven which use social network sites-52%, showing why platform owners should be concerned about user health and safety.
A rise in lawsuits
Concerns about the impact of social media in Canada are being addressed through litigation more often than before; this is just one instance of such cases. For instance four school boards in Ontario filed suits against Tiktok, Meta and Snapchat were disruptive in education system with $4.5 billion sought from schools reflecting growing focus on the role played by social media in society.
