Meet Our Social Media Harm Attorneys

Potentially, yes. Lawsuits allege that certain social media companies knowingly designed platforms and features that were addictive and harmful to minors, while failing to provide adequate safeguards or warnings. Liability often focuses on corporate decisions, product design, and internal knowledge of risks to young users.

Claims focus on how engagement-driven features, such as infinite scrolling, notifications, likes, streaks, and rewards, work together to promote prolonged use, reinforce dependency, and worsen mental health outcomes for children and teens.

Many of these cases are proceeding as coordinated mass tort litigation. This allows families with similar claims to pursue justice efficiently while still preserving the unique facts of each child’s experience, injuries, and damages.

Yes. Parents or legal guardians can bring claims on behalf of minors who suffered harm. In some cases, claims may also continue after a child reaches adulthood or, tragically, through wrongful death actions if a fatal outcome occurred.

Evidence may include platform usage data, medical and mental health records, school records, expert testimony, and internal company documents. The goal is to show both the extent of platform exposure and how that exposure contributed to measurable harm.

Yes. Internal research, emails, presentations, and whistleblower disclosures have played a significant role in social media litigation. These materials may demonstrate what companies knew about the risks to young users and when they knew it.

Courts evaluate duty of care by examining several interrelated factors, including whether harm to minors was reasonably foreseeable, the known vulnerability of child and adolescent users, and the degree of control a platform exercises over user experience through its design and algorithms.

Judges may also consider whether the platform actively encouraged prolonged or compulsive use, how content was recommended or amplified, and whether reasonable safety measures, such as age-appropriate safeguards, warnings, or intervention tools, could have reduced the risk of harm. Internal research, platform policies, and prior knowledge of risks can all influence this analysis.

Because these cases involve evolving technology and developing legal standards, duty-of-care determinations are highly fact-specific and often depend on detailed evidence uncovered during litigation.

Causation often relies on a combination of medical opinions, expert analysis, usage patterns, and timelines showing when symptoms emerged or worsened. Plaintiffs do not need to prove social media was the only cause, only that it was a substantial contributing factor.

Claims may seek compensation for mental health treatment, hospitalization, medication costs, educational disruption, emotional distress, long-term care needs, and diminished quality of life. In fatal cases, wrongful death damages may also apply.

Yes. Some lawsuits involve allegations that social media use contributed to suicide or other fatal outcomes. These cases are handled with extreme care and focus on accountability for alleged corporate conduct that placed young users at risk.

Research has linked excessive social media use to increased rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, and emotional distress, particularly among adolescents. Constant comparison, validation-seeking, and algorithm-driven content can intensify existing vulnerabilities.

Studies suggest a correlation between prolonged platform use and higher risks of self-harm and suicidal ideation in young people. 

Image-focused platforms can amplify unrealistic beauty standards, encouraging comparison and dissatisfaction. For some users, this has been linked to disordered eating behaviors, obsessive body monitoring, and diagnosed eating disorders.

Yes. Despite being marketed as tools for connection, some platforms may worsen loneliness by replacing meaningful interaction with passive engagement, comparison, and algorithm-driven feedback loops.

Warning signs may include withdrawal from real-world activities, mood changes, fixation on apps, declining academic performance, or emotional distress tied to online interactions. While parental controls and screen limits can help, professional guidance may be necessary in more serious situations.

If you believe a platform’s design played a role in serious harm, legal guidance can help you understand your options. Take our free, no-obligation case evaluation to learn whether your family may have legal options. The Fee Is Free®; you don’t pay unless we win.