Families who sued social media companies years ago are taking matters into their own hands

Families who sued social media companies years ago are taking matters into their own hands

Editor’s Note: If you are in the US and you or a loved one have contemplated suicide, call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to connect with a trained counselor. Outside the US, a worldwide directory of resources and international hotlines is provided by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and you can turn to Befrienders Worldwide. Jaime Puerta’s 16-year-old son Daniel died four years ago after taking a counterfeit oxycodone pill made with pure fentanyl, the illicit opioid drug, that he purchased from a dealer he found on Snapchat. In 2022, Puerta sued Snapchat in a wrongful death lawsuit. At the time, his lawsuit was one of the first to accuse social media of posing a danger to children’s health. Now there are hundreds of such lawsuits against social media platforms, alleging teenagers across the country have been harmed from exposure to social media, according to Matthew Bergman, the founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, from where many of these lawsuits have been filed. In some of the cases, families allege their children used social media to buy drugs; in other cases, parents say their teens saw dangerous content and harmed themselves. There is a range of harms and heartbreak alleged in the filings. Meta, TikTok and Snapchat outline on their websites that they prohibit content that promotes self-harm and the sales of prescription and opioid drugs. The platforms also have tools that allow parents to set time limits for their teens on the apps, verify user ages and restrict who they can message. “We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we’re doing to help provide teens with safe experiences online,” a Meta spokesperson told CNN. “These are complex issues but we will continue working with experts and listening to parents to develop new tools, features and policies that are effective and meet the needs of teens and their families.” The social media companies filed motions to dismiss some of the cases under the First Amendment and Section 230, which states that tech companies cannot be held liable for some of the content that users post to their platforms. However, some cases, including with Puerta’s lawsuit, have already been approved to move forward in the court of law. All cases are still pending.