If your child developed anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, self-harm behaviors, or suicidal ideation after using Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or YouTube — platform design, not your parenting, may be to blame.
Internal research made public by former Meta employee Frances Haugen in 2021 showed that the company's own studies linked Instagram to worsened body image, depression, and suicidal ideation in teenage girls — and that executives knew. The recommendation algorithms powering Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube are designed to maximize engagement by serving increasingly intense content: the same mechanisms that drive adult users to doomscroll are far more powerful on developing adolescent brains with less capacity to disengage.
Hundreds of families have filed claims against Meta, ByteDance, Snap, and Google. The cases have been consolidated in the federal Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability MDL in the Northern District of California. Parents and legal guardians may bring claims on behalf of a minor child, and in many states can also bring claims for their own losses — the cost of treatment, missed work, and the devastating impact of watching a child suffer.
Platform design — not your parenting — drove the harm. The law provides a path to hold these companies accountable.
Every detail you share through this case review — your story, treatment records, and how the platforms affected you or your loved one — stays between you and our intake team. We do not sell, rent, or share your information with third parties, and your participation is never made public.
Damages vary by case, and every individual's and family's situation is different. Common categories of damages in social media harm matters include:
Therapy, counseling, psychiatric care, inpatient stays, medication, and follow-up treatment for anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, self-harm, or related diagnoses your child received.
Long-term therapy, ongoing psychiatric treatment, residential or intensive outpatient programs, and recovery costs your child will need going forward.
Disruption to schooling, lost grades or academic standing, and any reduction in your child's future earning capacity caused by the harm they suffered.
Costs you bore as a parent — missed work, travel for treatment, household disruption — while caring for a child in crisis.
Compensation for the emotional harm, humiliation, and diminished quality of life your child experienced as a result of platform-driven harm.
For families who lost a child to suicide: funeral and burial expenses, loss of future support, and loss of society and companionship.
In certain cases, social media platforms and other parties may be held accountable for addictive product design targeting young users, age-verification failures, inadequate parental controls, failure to warn of known harms, or concealment of internal research showing serious mental-health impact. Where the conduct is especially egregious, punitive damages may also be available.
See if You QualifyAt Makarem & Associates, we represent individuals and families who experienced serious mental-health effects after heavy social media use. Our attorneys work closely with clients, using thoughtful and practical strategies to protect your rights and pursue accountability where a platform's design targeted young users, ignored its own internal research, or failed to warn of known harms.
Our attorneys handle complex litigation involving harm caused by online platforms to minors. The team reviewing your case understands the unique dynamics of parent and guardian claims.
We come ready to take cases through to trial when defendants resist a fair resolution. The credible threat of trial is what drives settlements — and it's a posture not every firm can credibly hold.
You pay nothing up front and nothing during the case. Fees only apply if we recover compensation on your behalf.
This is an advertisement of the law firm Makarem & Associates. Makarem & Associates is responsible for this webpage. No representation is made that the lawyers are certified specialists or experts in any field of law. This webpage’s content is provided for informational purposes only by Makarem & Associates. This site contains general information that may not be up to date, assumes findings of fact, and is for illustrative purposes only. A more detailed analysis of your particular data would be required to obtain a better estimate of what you are owed. There is no guarantee that a Court or Arbitrator would rule in your favor. This does not create a client-attorney relationship. It is not intended to provide legal advice. For legal advice, you will need to consult an attorney at Makarem & Associates. Every case is different. Results depend on the unique law, facts and circumstances of each case.