Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit 2023 | Filing Claims for Mental Health Effects from Social Media Use

Use the chatbot on this page to find out if you qualify for a potential Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit.

You can also contact TorHoerman Law for a free consultation.

Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit Overview

Social media platforms are used by millions of people everyday to connect with others who have similar interests, post pictures, and keep up-to-date on the latest news.

The positive aspects of social media are varying, but there is a more serious matter to confront with these platforms: the mental health issues that have risen in young adults.

Social media platforms have become increasingly damaging for the mental health of teenage users.

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Social media harm lawsuits claim that social media companies are responsible for onsetting or heightening mental health problems, eating disorders, mood disorders, and other negative experiences of teens and children

You may be eligible to file a Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit if you are the parents of a teen, or teens, who attribute their use of social media platforms to their mental health problems.

Parents of teenage users who have taken their own life as a result of mental health problems linked to social media usage may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim.

Contact TorHoerman Law for a free consultation or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify for legal action instantly.

Social media companies like Facebook (Meta), Instagram, TikTok (ByteDance), and others have evaded responsibility for putting teen mental health at risk, and these lawsuits aim to compensate victims for their injuries and damages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Multiple research studies and surveys have found that excessive social media use contributes to mental health problems, especially in younger users and young women specifically.

These lawsuits allege that social media companies knew or should have known that their products are potentially unsafe for children. They claim that certain mental health problems in young people have been directly caused by excessive social media use, encouraged by the way that social media platforms are crafted.

Teens and young adults who have used social media sites and subsequently suffered from mental health impacts may be eligible for a lawsuit.

If you or a loved one have suffered from any of the following, contact us for a free consultation: 

  • Depression or depressive symptoms
  • Anxiety
  • Eating Disorders
  • Body Dysmorphia
  • ADHD
  • Self harm or suicidal ideation
  • Any other diagnosed mental illnesses

Damages in a personal injury lawsuit refer to any losses, economic or non-economic, incurred as a result of an incident.

In a Social Media Harm Lawsuit, damages could include some of the following:

  • Medical treatment costs
  • Therapy costs
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional damage

Other potential damages are possible.

As the legal pressure on social media companies grows, more damages may become viable in claims for compensation.

No. These lawsuits are pending to be certified as a multidistrict litigation (MDL). MDLs are a type of legal procedure used to speed the process of handling complex litigations by consolidating cases and addressing pretrial procedures in a single court.

MDLs are consolidations of lawsuits with similar allegations and injuries, and are designed to ensure consistent rulings across cases with similar context.

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Table of Contents

Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit Update

July 25 Update:

Schools and individuals are continuing to file lawsuits against major social media platforms for mental health effects on teens and young adults. 

Nearly 200 school districts are suing social media companies, including Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.

These lawsuits allege that the apps cause disciplinary problems and mental health issues in classrooms, diverting resources from education.

The school districts are claiming that teachers and administrators waste valuable time dealing with cyberbullying and other social media-related disciplinary problems.

They also argue that the addictive nature of these apps leads to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts in students.

There are also individual lawsuits against the tech companies, seeking to hold them liable for defective product design and negligence, with tragic cases involving severe anorexia and a teen’s suicide, among others.

Our law firm is currently accepting new clients for individual lawsuits against social media companies for mental health problems, eating disorders, and other related diagnoses. 

The tech companies are seeking dismissal of the cases, arguing that the alleged conduct causing harm is protected under Section 230, an internet liability shield that generally exempts internet companies from third-party content liability.

The school districts and families contend that the social media companies have created an addictive product, not just content, and thus shouldn’t enjoy Section 230 protections.

Tech companies are claiming that the alleged harm of this case will open the floodgates for more future litigations.

A similar case against Snap was allowed to proceed by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In May 2021, the court ruled in favor of the parents of two boys who died in a car crash while driving at a high speed.

The parents had filed a lawsuit against Snap alleging negligent product design.

The court allowed the lawsuit to proceed, indicating that Snap could be held liable for the alleged negligent design of the product.

The number of plaintiffs is expected to increase as more school districts consider joining the litigation.

Legal experts have raised questions about whether the school districts can successfully prove that social media apps are a public nuisance and directly harmed schools.

However, individual plaintiffs, including parents of teens suffering from severe mental health issues or suicide, have filed separate suits against the tech companies, seeking liability for defective product design and negligence.

The school districts’ lawsuits are seen as an attempt to bypass Section 230 protections and make social media companies pay for perceived harms caused by their platforms.

Our law firm is continuing its investigation and we are speaking to clients daily about their situations.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim.

Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

July 10 Update:

Amid the increasing scrutiny and lawsuits Meta is facing for Instagram and Facebook’s effects on teenagers’ mental health, Meta has announced new parental measures that aim to alleviate the issue.

Now, when a teen blocks someone on Instagram, they will receive a notice that encourages them to set up parental controls. The teen can accept or decline the notice, and only if they accept the notice will the parental controls be activated. These controls would allow parents to see who their child is following and being followed by, view their child’s screen time on the app, and set time limits for app usage.

While the parental controls do allow parents to see more into their child’s social media usage, it does not allow parents to view any messages the child is sending or content the child is consuming. This has drawn criticism especially as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy increases his warnings of the dangers these apps can have on mental health. Recently in a Senate hearing about youth mental health, the surgeon general said he would support legislation that forced social media sites to have warning messages pop up for its users every time they logged in.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim. Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

May 31st Update:

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) has filed a lawsuit against social media companies, including TikTok and Instagram, citing damages and a growing mental health crisis among students.

The lawsuit seeks accountability, tools, and resources to address the lack of protections and controls on social media platforms. CMCSS has observed an increase in mental health issues, cyberbullying, threats of school violence, and inappropriate content linked to students’ use of social media.

The school district, with over 38,000 students, believes that without cooperation from social media companies, they have been facing challenges in protecting children and maintaining a safe learning environment.

This lawsuit is similar to other cases filed by school districts and public agencies across the country against social media companies. Our lawyers are investigating legal action on behalf of individuals who have suffered from chronic social media use.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim. Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

The investigation into legal action against social media companies for mental health effects on users is ongoing.

Additional school districts and cities have filed lawsuits against Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta) and TikTok for their contributions to the ongoing mental health crisis in adolescents. The suits mention a Centers for Disease Control statistic that says between 2007 to 2018, the suicide rate for people ages 10 to 24 years increased by nearly 60%.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a national advisory on May 23 stating that social media creates a “profound risk” to teen mental health, citing growing research and evidence that daily social media usage increases the risk of depression and anxiety among teens. Murthy said the guidelines social media companies have created to combat mental health issues are inadequate.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim. Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

The investigation into legal action against social media companies for mental health effects on users is ongoing. Our Social Media Harm Lawyers are speaking to potential clients daily and strategizing next steps.

Several school districts and state agencies have filed lawsuits against Meta and Instagram recently. These claims only speak to the depth of the issues at hand. Social media companies have made billions of dollars in profits while young users deal with mental health effects brought on by chronic usage.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim.

Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

The investigation into potential lawsuits for mental health effects from social media use is ongoing.

Several agencies, school districts and others have begun filing suit against Facebook (Meta) and other social media companies over the impacts they’ve had on young users.

If you or a loved one have experienced mental health effects due to social media use, you may be eligible to file a claim.

Contact TorHoerman Law or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify.

Several lawsuits alleging mental health issues stemming from excessive social media use are being considered for consolidation into multidistrict litigation (MDL). Currently, 75 lawsuits are being considered for consolidation.

Facebook and Instagram (now Meta) support consolidation of the lawsuits, but other defendants like TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat are opposed to consolidation as they believe their platforms are not as related as Meta is to the claims.

Visit this page for more updates as they become available.

What is the Social Media Mental Health or Social Media Addiction Lawsuit?

Lawsuits against social media companies have alleged that teens and children are suffering from mental health issues and other related disorders due to excessive use and exposure to harmful content.

social media mental health problems in teenage users

These claims center around the idea that social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat were intentionally designed to retain an audience of young users, and that in turn causes mental health problems.

The social media companies are accused of failing to warn users and parents about the risks of their products.

How did the Social Media Mental Health Lawsuits Come About?

Lawsuits alleging mental health problems in teens and young adults due to social media use stemmed from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony before congress, as well as the release of leaked internal Facebook documents on teen mental health relating to their platform.

What Health Effects are Potentially Linked to Excessive Social Media Use?

What Health Effects are Potentially Linked to Excessive Social Media Use?

Lawsuits for health impacts from social media use include a variety of injuries or mental health effects, including the following:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Body dysmorphia and body image issues
  • Eating disorders
  • Suicide, self harm and suicidal ideation
  • Social media addiction and withdrawal
  • Sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual exploita

Social Media Companies and Teen Mental Health Issues

Social media apps like Facebook (Meta), Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and others are used by teenagers around the world at extremely high rates.

With the extremely high rate of social media use by teens and children comes a high rate of potential mental health problems.

Paired with the social isolation of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the mental health impacts on vulnerable teens is at an all time high.

social media mental health statistics

According to the Pew Research Center, 45% of teens are on social media “almost constantly“, with an average over 60% using the top social media platforms daily.

A University of Pennsylvania study found that social media use increases depression and loneliness in teens.

The University of Pennsylvania study look at the social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, and found that when teenage users engaged with social media sites for only a limited period per-day, their mental health took a dramatically positive turn.

Research on the rise in depression and anxiety in teens as it relates to social media use is fairly limited.

Efforts to expand knowledge on the issue include the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT), established to focus further research on these issues, promote social media safety, and strategize how social media users can change their relationships to certain platforms.

Facebook (Meta), Instagram, and Mental Health Problems in Teens

Facebook and Instagram have become a mainstay for teenage users of social media.

Instagram, more so than Facebook, is used by millions of teenagers on a daily basis and has been a catalyst in an increased risk for mental health problems in teens.

The Facebook Papers, leaked and published in an investigative series by the Wall Street Journal called the “Facebook Files” detail the internal research that Facebook employees completed.

The research at Facebook concluded that their platforms have a major impact on the mental health of young users, specifically teenage girls and young women.

Key findings from the Facebook papers include:

  • 66% of teen girls on Instagram experience negative social comparison
  • 52% of teen girls who experienced negative social comparison on Instagram said it was caused by images related to beauty and body image
  • 32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse
  • Harm on Instagram falls into three major categories: social comparison, social pressure, and negative interactions with other people
  • 82% of teens have felt at least one emotional issue in the past month, and one in five has thought about suicide or self-injury
  • The boundary between social media and in person relationships is often blurred, which can negatively impact self esteem and mental health in general.
  • Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms
  • Teenage users who struggle with mental health say that Instagram makes it worse and the positive aspects do not outweigh its negative impacts on self esteem and mental health

Learn more about the Instagram Mental Health Lawsuit here.

TikTok and Teen Mental Health Issues

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is among the most popular social media sites for teens and children.

The video platform is easy to use and understand, and filters users personal feeds according to an algorithm.

The negative effects of TikTok have been widely reported on and are now beginning to garner scientific research.

On TikTok, the worsening of mental health effects is an issue, as well as misdiagnosis of eating disorders, personality disorders, and other mental health issues.

Snapchat and Teen Mental Health Issues

Snapchat is a popular messaging and image sharing app used by teens around the world.

Much like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, Snap Inc. has been named in multiple lawsuits alleging mental health problems stemming from social media use.

Snapchat lends itself to excessive use in that users are encouraged to use the platform daily to keep their “streaks” – consecutive days they use the app to send messages to another user.

Excessive social media use has been proven to contribute to negative mental health effects in teens and young adults.

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)

Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is a type of child pornography that refers to images or videos depicting sexual exploitation and the abuse of children online.

CSAM has been found on numerous social media sites, but has been especially rampant on Instagram.

This illegal and harmful content is spread within communities and groups on the platform, and Facebook (Meta) is aware of this, publishing a research study on the subject.

CSAM distribution is illegal and users can face criminal charges for partaking in the communities.

Legal action is being considered against social media companies for their part in allowing these communities to exist and for allowing vulnerable users to be exploited.

Learn more about the CSAM Lawsuit here.

Filing a Lawsuit for Social Media Mental Health Effects

Our law firm is investigating the claims against social media companies for mental illness caused by excessive usage.

Social media platforms have been proven to have negative effects on the mental well-being of teens and children who use them, and these lawsuits aim to compensate victims for the suffering that has been caused.

do i qualify for the social media mental health lawsuit?

TorHoerman Law: Investigating Legal Action Against Social Media Companies

TorHoerman Law and our associated law firms are investigating the potential litigation against social media companies.

We understand the detrimental effects social media can have on young people and how these massive companies have evaded responsibility for their part in the mental suffering of some teenage users.

We are currently investigating and strategizing how to effectively move forward with legal action.

social media mental health lawsuit attorneys

If you or a loved one have suffered from mental health problems potentially caused by social media usage, particularly Instagram, you may qualify for a claim.

Contact us today for a free consultation or use the chatbot on this page to see if you qualify instantly. 

Tor Hoerman

Tor Hoerman

Owner & Attorney - TorHoerman Law

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