Social media companies sued over deaths of 4 teens as pressure increases for child safety

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.A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement that “providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.In collaboration with mental health and parenting experts, we’ve built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls.

We send our deepest sympathies to the families and are reviewing the claims in this lawsuit.”Representatives for...