Social media companies sued over deaths of four teens as pressure, lawsuits over child safety mount

Social media companies sued over deaths of four teens as pressure, lawsuits over child safety mount 1 of 2 | This combination of 2017-2022 photos shows the logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on mobile devices. On Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, suing the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth. (AP Photo, File) 2 of 2 | A group holds hands outside a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File) By KAITLYN HUAMANI and BARBARA ORTUTAY Updated 4:48 PM MESZ, July 31, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit The families of four teenagers who died by suicide are suing Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube over what they describe as “years of escalating harms” from using their platforms that eventually resulted in their deaths. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Superior Court of Delaware, is the latest in a flurry of suits filed against the social media giants that alleges their platforms are addictive and dangerous. The complaint was filed on behalf of four families from Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota and Tennessee whose children died over a 14-month period starting in July 2024 through September 2025. The Social Media Victims Law Center is bringing the suit on behalf of the families, and its founding attorney, Matthew Bergman, said it’s “particularly salient” that the children in this case died “long after” similar suits had been filed. “These platforms continue to kill kids, despite the platitudes of their executives,” Bergman said in an interview. “This is a clear and present danger to the health and safety of children, not just in the United States but around the world.” The four teens who died by suicide each experienced harms including social media addiction, severe sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation after years of using the social platforms, the complaint states. Livi Castro died at age 13, Riv Kelleher at 14, Nathaniel Chambers at age 17 and Dawson Holden at 18. The complaint alleges the social media companies knew they were causing harm to young users. Representatives for Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap did not immediately respond to requests for comment. How the lighthearted social media trend of ‘teen takeovers’ took a serious turn 4 MIN READ 19 Trump pays respects to 4 US service members killed in the Middle East 2 MIN READ 26 Meta employees sue, alleging AI-driven layoff picks hit workers on medical and parental leave 2 MIN READ Sacha Haworth, executive director of The Tech Oversight Project, said in a statement that parents, activists and whistleblowers have come forward and met with lawmakers for years and “while Congress has dragged its feet, more children have died.” Federal legislation of social media has moved at a glacial pace. The Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act — which had the support of parents’ groups and children’s advocacy organizations — exactly two years before this lawsuit was filed. The House of Representatives never voted on that version of the legislation, and the House and Senate are currently disagreeing on key provisions they think should be included. Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap are facing numerous state and federal lawsuits over harms to minors. Meta is on trial in Tennessee this week for a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general claiming that the company deliberately designed its platforms, notably Instagram, to make them addictive to young people, and did not warn them of its dangers. And in August, Meta is heading to trial in federal court in Oakland, California to face four of dozens of states that sued the company in 2023. That lawsuit says the company is contributing to the youth mental health crisis by designing addictive features and violated federal law by collecting data on kids under 13 without parental consent. Not all lawsuits are successful, and many are settled out of court. Last week, a Florida teenager dropped his case against Meta that was set to go to trial in state court in Los Angeles, without receiving any payment from the company. Meta had argued that the teen only used his Instagram and Facebook for just minutes a day, on average, and created most accounts only after hiring a lawyer in his case. Still, the mounting court cases can get expensive, even for a company like Meta Platforms. Earlier this week Meta said it had $2.4 billion in legal expenses in the second quarter, which contributed to a relatively unusual 14% profit decline. KAITLYN HUAMANI Huamani covers social media and internet culture for The Associated Press. mailto BARBARA ORTUTAY Ortutay writes about social media and the internet for The Associated Press. mailto