Facebook Lawsuit

Lawsuits claim that Facebook and other social media platforms are causing teenagers to develop mental health issues.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Facebook induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you believe Facebook caused your child’s suicide, depression, or eating disorder, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Social Media Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Lawsuit Blames Social Media for Teen Girl’s Suicide

In January 2022, Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook) and Snapchat were sued by the mother of an 11-year-old girl who killed herself in July 2021 after becoming addicted to social media.

The lawsuit was filed by Tammy R., a mother from Connecticut who claimed that her daughter Selena “struggled for more than two years with an extreme addiction to Instagram and Snapchat.”

The lawsuit claims that social media is “akin to a slot machine but marketed toward teenage users who are even more susceptible than gambling addicts.” Her social media addiction resulted in severe depression, sleep deprivation, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.

What is the Problem?

Young people who use Facebook and other social media platforms could be at risk for:

• Suicide
• Suicide Ideation / Attempts
• Severe Depression
• Certain emotional disorders (anxiety, low self-esteem, etc.)
• Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, etc.)
• And more

Facebook Knows Instagram is Toxic for Teen Girls & Mental Health

In September 2021, the Wall Street Journal published a story on Facebook’s own research into the harmful effects of Instagram on teenagers.

The researchers found that “32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. … Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression. This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”

Even more alarming, among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, “13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram.” According to the researchers:

“Young people are acutely aware that Instagram can be bad for their mental health, yet are compelled to spend time on the app for fear of missing out on cultural and social trends.”

Is Social Media Bad For Your Mental Health?

Teens who participated in the studies were able to list the ways Instagram harmed their mental health, including:

• Pressure to conform to social stereotypes
• Pressure to match money and body types of influencers
• Need for validation (views, likes, followers, etc.)
• Friendship conflicts, bullying, hate speech
• Over-sexualization of girls
• Inappropriate ads targeted to vulnerable groups

Source: 2019 Instagram slide presentation: “Teen Mental Health Deep Dive”

The Facebook Papers: “Profits Over People”

The Facebook Papers are thousands of pages of internal documents that were leaked by Frances Haugen, a product manager-turned-whistleblower who testified against Facebook before a U.S. Senate committee.

She accused Facebook of ignoring its role in the rising rates of teen suicide, depression, and eating disorders, telling lawmakers:

“Facebook knows that they are leading young users to anorexia content. … The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people.”

How Facebook Algorithms Can Cause Eating Disorders

Haugen discussed how Facebook’s algorithms could cause teenagers to develop eating disorders and body image issues on a 60 Minutes interview.

For example, if you like pictures of cute dogs, Facebook’s algorithms will show you more pictures of cute dogs. But if you are struggling with body image issues and you are following a lot of anorexic supermodels, it shows more of that, too.

Haugen explained, “What’s super tragic is that Facebook’s own research says as these young women begin to consume this eating-disorder content, they get more and more depressed and it actually makes them use the app more, and so they end up in this feedback cycle where they hate their bodies more and more.”

Do I have a Facebook Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Facebook induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you believe Facebook caused your child’s suicide, depression, or eating disorder, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Social Media Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

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