A landmark court decision in the United States that holds social media giants Meta and YouTube liable for its impact on young people could have wide-reaching impacts in Canada.

Nova Scotians say they’ve been dealing with the effects of online platforms — for better or worse — for years.

“A big love-hate relationship,” said Saint Mary’s University student Ethan Stanhope when asked about his relationship with social media.

“Oh, it is destroying our attention spans. It’s so much harder to sit through multiple hour-long videos about things I’m interested in just because it’s hard to grab your attention now.”

This week, a California jury found both Meta and YouTube liable in a first-of-its kind lawsuit aimed at holding social media platforms responsible for harm to children using their services.

Meta is the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, while YouTube is a subsidiary of Google.

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A 20-year-old woman was awarded $6 million in damages after testifying that her addiction to the platforms led to anxiety, depression and self-harm.

Giles Crouch, a Nova Scotia-based researcher and tech writer, says Wednesday’s ruling, which came one day after a New Mexico jury ruled that Meta is harmful to children’s mental health, could have a snowball effect.

“It’s kind of like the Big Tobacco moment for social media companies,” he said.

“Democracies are going to be looking at this and going, ‘OK, we’ve really got to make some changes because we know now that it’s hurting our youth.’”

He cites Nova Scotia’s move to ban cellphones from public school classrooms in 2024 as an example of a positive step.

Taking it a step further, Unplugged Canada is a group pushing for a minimum age for social media use nationwide.

Australia took the lead earlier this year when it implemented the world’s first social media ban for children under 16.

“The more we talk to young people, the more they actually see the harms these platforms are causing. Their friends, themselves, and many are trying to take that power back,” said Jenna Poste, co-founder of Unplugged Canada’s Nova Scotia chapter.

Poste says these recent verdicts could create momentum for legislative change in this country.

“There’s lots of conversations happening right now about what should we be doing with our legislation right now to protect kids and how do we hold these big tech companies accountable for the harms that they are causing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Meta and Google are exploring legal options, including appeals.

As for Poste, who has 20 years of experience in the tech industry including creating apps to flag and remove harmful content on social media, she advises parents to wait when it comes to their children’s social media consumption.

“As long as you can, delay it,” she said.

“Delay the access to these platforms that more and more information’s coming out that it’s just not safe for kids.”

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