Social media companies have an obligation to make their platforms safe places for children and teens. These companies have neglected to adhere to this responsibility and instead rake in billions of dollars by exploiting young people. Call the compassionate team at Hach & Rose if your child is a victim of social media harm. We file social media harm lawsuits and help you request compensation for your family’s injuries.
Social media companies such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), Snapchat, TikTok, and others have spent years profiting from users who have become addicted to social media. Worse, many of these platforms are designed to entice young users. As a result, excessive social media use has led to harmful effects on children and young adults and financial consequences for their families.
We Are Holding Social Media Companies Accountable
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube have become central to teens’ daily lives, but these companies have long known that their algorithms can fuel addiction, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and self-harm in young users. Families across the country are now taking legal action to hold these platforms accountable for the harm caused to their children.
At Hach & Rose, we believe these companies should be held accountable for failing to protect young people on their platforms. If your child or teenager regularly used a social media platform for at least 3 hours each day starting before they turned 21 and later suffered from mental health issues linked to social media use, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit and seek compensation for medical care, therapy, and the emotional toll on your family.
Contact the social media harm legal team at Hach & Rose, LLP to discuss your case today. We are currently investigating cases involving social media harm. We may be able to help you seek compensation.
How Social Media May Be Harming Teens
Research and internal documents reveal that social media platforms are designed to increase engagement by:
- Pushing content that keeps teens scrolling, even when it negatively impacts their mental health.
- Promoting unrealistic body image standards.
- Failing to implement effective parental controls.
- Allowing exposure to cyberbullying and harmful content.
These practices have been linked to increased rates of depression, anxiety, sleep disruption, and self-harm among teens and preteens.
Who Can File a Social Media Harm Lawsuit?
Parents or guardians can file on behalf of minors who:
- Developed anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or other mental health conditions linked to social media use.
- Have a history of excessive use or addiction to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or YouTube.
- Experienced worsening mental health or suicidal thoughts tied to social media engagement.
You may still qualify even if your child used multiple platforms or if you are unsure of the exact timeline of harm.
Nationwide Litigation: What You Need to Know
Social media harm lawsuits are now consolidated in a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) in California, where hundreds of families are seeking accountability from major tech companies for the harm caused to minors.
These cases are moving forward, with courts setting schedules for trials that may influence settlement opportunities for families across the country. Early wins in these cases could strengthen the path for individual claims, helping families secure compensation and accountability.
Recent Updates in the Pending Social Media Harm Lawsuits
The legal team at Hach & Rose is keeping a close eye on the evolution of social media harm litigation throughout the country. As new cases are filed and courts rule on various legal issues, we’ll post updates here to keep you informed. If you have any questions about your specific situation and legal rights, reach out to our dedicated social media harm lawyers to learn more.
Here are the latest updates related to social media harm litigation.
September 1, 2025: Good News for Families as Social Media Lawsuits Gain Momentum
If you’re a parent concerned about how social media may have harmed your child’s mental health, you’re not alone, and the legal system is starting to take real action.
Families Gaining Ground in Court
In late August, a federal appeals court gave families and states a small victory by stopping Meta’s legal team from overreaching. Meta had tried to force state attorneys general to hand over documents from other government agencies—not because the documents were needed, but to slow down and complicate the case.
Thankfully, the court said no. It ruled that each state has its own laws about what records attorneys general control, and Meta can’t just demand access to everything under the sun. This keeps the focus where it belongs: on the harm these platforms may have caused to real children and families, not on burdening public agencies with unnecessary demands.
More Lawsuits Are Being Filed Every Week
As of last month, there are 1,922 active lawsuits in the Social Media Addiction multidistrict litigation (MDL), where federal claims from across the country are being coordinated. That means dozens of new families joined the fight just last month. These are parents, just like you, whose children were harmed by Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and other platforms that have allegedly prioritized profits over safety.
The claims are clear: these platforms were designed to be addictive. Algorithms pushed kids deeper into harmful content, encouraging constant scrolling while increasing the risk of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and self-harm.
What’s Next in These Cases?
The court is preparing for bellwether trials, which are sample cases that will help guide future settlements or jury decisions. Eleven of these have already been chosen, and the judge recently announced she may split these trials into two parts:
- First, a jury trial to decide whether the companies are responsible for the harm and how much compensation is owed.
- Then, if needed, a second bench trial where the court could order changes to the way these platforms operate going forward.
This strategy keeps things moving. There is no more waiting for one case to finish before another begins. All plaintiffs, from families to school districts, are on the same trial schedule, and that’s great news for anyone hoping for justice.
If Your Child Was Harmed by Social Media, We’re Here to Help
At Hach & Rose, we’re keeping a close eye on this litigation because we know how serious the stakes are. If your child has suffered from social media addiction, anxiety, depression, or self-harm, you deserve answers, and you may be entitled to compensation.
Reach out today for a free, private consultation. Our experienced legal team can help you take the next step toward justice.
August 1, 2025: First Bellwether Trial in California Set to Begin as Federal MDL Nears 1,900 Cases
The legal fight to hold social media companies accountable for harming our youth is approaching a critical milestone. In California’s state court proceedings, the first trial is now officially scheduled to begin in late 2025, positioning that case ahead of similar trials in the federal system.
California Trial Timeline Set for November
Judge Carolyn Kuhl, who is overseeing the coordinated social media litigation in California state court (known as the JCCP), confirmed that jury selection for the first bellwether trial will begin on November 19, 2025. The trial itself is expected to start the following week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Additional bellwether trials are already on the calendar:
- Trial Pool 2 is scheduled for March 9, 2026
- Trial Pool 3 will follow on May 11, 2026
Judge Kuhl has chosen to personally preside over all phases of these trials, allowing for consistency in how key legal issues, such as expert witness challenges and jury instructions, are handled.
What This Means for Families
These early bellwether trials will test the strength of the claims that companies like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube designed their platforms to maximize engagement, without regard for the risks to young users. A strong outcome for plaintiffs could influence future settlements or jury awards and set new legal precedents.
Federal MDL Also Continues to Grow
Meanwhile, the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 3047) continues to grow steadily. As of last month, there are 1,867 active lawsuits consolidated in the Northern District of California. These cases have been filed by families nationwide, alleging that social media platforms were:
- Defectively designed to encourage compulsive use
- Negligent in warning users and parents about known risks
- Responsible for a range of mental health harms, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and, tragically, even loss of life
If you believe social media has negatively impacted your child’s mental health, now is the time to learn more about your legal options. Hach & Rose is here to help you understand your rights and fight for your family’s well-being.
July 2025: School District Trials Set as First Bellwether Trials
- Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers selected six school districts in Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Arizona as the first bellwether trials in the Social Media Addiction MDL.
- These trials will test claims that platforms knowingly contributed to a youth mental health crisis, with outcomes likely influencing settlement values for future personal injury cases.
- School cases proceed first due to procedural simplicity and their potential to establish causation between social media use and teen mental health harms.
- A recent ruling allowed Tucson Unified School District to withhold certain student behavior notes, affirming the credibility of data schools have provided and supporting evidence for families’ future claims.
- Five individual injury cases have been selected to proceed after the school district trials, ensuring personal injury lawsuits are moving forward as the MDL advances toward trial.
June 2025: Privacy Rulings Protect Plaintiffs, New Lawsuits Filed
- An Ohio family filed suit against Meta and Snap, alleging a teen developed addiction, depression, and self-harm from prolonged use of Instagram and Snapchat.
- Judge Peter Kang ruled that the therapy records of plaintiffs remain confidential, rejecting defendants’ attempts to access them.
- Coordination between Meta and California’s GO-Biz on document disclosure raised concerns but may support plaintiffs’ arguments regarding corporate and institutional failures to protect youth.
- The MDL remains active as cases progress toward discovery and bellwether trials later in 2025.
May 2025: Case Count Adjustment, State Lawsuits Advance
- The MDL case count was adjusted to 1,787 cases after the removal of duplicate filings, while the discovery process continued.
- Florida sued Snap for violating a state law requiring parental consent for under-16 social media use.
- Alabama filed suit against TikTok, alleging it exploits children and fuels a youth mental health crisis.
- A Vermont case unsealed in federal court revealed claims that Snapchat facilitated contact between minors and a predator, adding emotional harm claims against Snap.
April 2025: MDL Expands, Bellwether Trials Scheduled
- The MDL grew to over 1,745 pending lawsuits, with cases targeting Meta, Snap, TikTok, YouTube, and others.
- Judge Carolyn Kuhl confirmed the first bellwether trial is scheduled for November 25, 2025, with additional test trials planned.
- Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers allowed negligence and wrongful death claims to proceed while dismissing some peripheral claims, ensuring the main cases continue toward trial.
March 2025: MDL Growth and Court Decisions Increase Pressure
- The MDL added 252 new cases, bringing the total number of lawsuits against Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Google to over 1,200.
- A Georgia family’s lawsuit highlighted severe harms, including addiction, eating disorders, and self-harm, tied to social media use.
- Internationally, French families continued pressing claims against TikTok for exposing children to harmful content.
- Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Google and Snap’s requests for early appeals, allowing public nuisance and negligence claims by school districts to proceed without delay, keeping litigation on track toward discovery and potential bellwether trials.
February 2025: Class Action Denied in Meta Privacy Case
- On January 27, 2025, a federal judge denied class-action status in a Meta data privacy lawsuit seeking $52 billion in damages, weakening plaintiffs’ leverage in privacy claims.
- The Social Media Addiction MDL grew to 974 cases, with families across the U.S. alleging that platforms designed addictive features targeting children and teens.
- Internationally, seven French families filed a lawsuit against TikTok over harmful content leading to tragic youth deaths, signaling expanding global litigation.
January 2025: Rulings Narrow and Advance Litigation
- A judge ruled Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cannot be held personally liable in youth addiction lawsuits, keeping the focus on corporate accountability.
- Massachusetts’ lawsuit against Meta for allegedly causing social media addiction in young users will proceed.
- Fourteen states, including New York and California, sued TikTok, claiming its algorithms promote harmful content that impacts youth mental health.
- As of January, courts continue shaping key issues in the MDL, while related state cases advance.
Litigation Progress: October 2022 – December 2024
Growth of the MDL: The MDL steadily expanded as more families filed claims, with hundreds of cases joining from across the country.
Key Motions and Discovery: Throughout 2023, the court established procedures for evidence gathering, including disputes over access to internal documents from social media companies.
Expert Testimony: In 2024, the MDL focused on selecting expert witnesses to address how social media algorithms can contribute to addiction and mental health harm in teens.
Bellwether Selection Planning: By late 2024, the court began outlining criteria for selecting the first bellwether trials, an important step that helps determine how future cases may be valued and resolved.
These developments laid the groundwork for families to pursue justice and accountability from social media companies, demonstrating that courts are taking these claims seriously as the litigation moves forward.
October 13, 2022: Social Media Lawsuits Centralized in Federal Court
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation agreed to centralize all social media addiction lawsuits into a single multidistrict litigation (MDL) to streamline the legal process. The new MDL, titled In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Product Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3047), was assigned to the Northern District of California, where many major social media companies are headquartered.
Initially, 28 lawsuits from 17 different districts were consolidated, marking the first step toward efficiently handling these cases and working toward potential settlements for affected families.
One Real-Life Example of the Harm Social Media Can Cause
In Guerrero v. Meta Platforms, Inc. et al., a woman named Jessica Guerrero, filing on behalf of a minor plaintiff, alleged that the minor’s “addictive and problematic use” of Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram led to serious problems, including:
- Attempted suicide
- Suicidal ideation
- Severe anxiety
- Reduced ability to sleep, and
- Eating disorders
The legal basis for the lawsuit included the following factors:
Design Defect: The lawsuit claims the social media platforms in question were unsafe for young users. They could have been designed to reduce the risk of harm to children, but instead they encouraged addictive behavior and serious harm.
Manufacturing Defect: The complaint alleges that Meta developers failed to adhere to the original design of the platforms, which led to the platforms being less safe to use.
Failure to Warn: The plaintiff claims the company never warned parents or young users about the physical, emotional, and mental risks of using the platforms.
Negligence: The complaint states that the company was aware of the risks to young users, or should have been aware of them, but did not take steps to reconfigure its platforms to make them safer.
Fraud: Lastly, the lawsuit claims the company marketed its platforms as safe, even though it knew using them was dangerous to children and teens. They also kept this information from the general public.
In general, the lawsuit explains how Meta and other social media companies are designed to be addictive by presenting a false reality regarding physical beauty and success to young users. That leads to low self-esteem and other adverse mental health effects.
These platforms also promote content encouraging young people to make negative comparisons between themselves and others, as well as facilitating others’ comments that can lead to bullying or negative impacts on the user.
What Physical and Emotional Harm May be Caused by Social Media?
Some reported harmful effects of excessive social media use include:
- depression
- anxiety
- body dysmorphia
- eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia
- suicidal ideation
- self-harm
- insomnia
- fatigue
- ADHD
- vision loss and eye strain
- severe headaches
Instead of disclosing the potential dangers of using social media to young users and their parents or redesigning their platforms to improve safety, these platforms have put profits over people.
Social media platforms have also facilitated and failed to prevent cyberbullying, leaving young users vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Social media companies have not adequately policed these platforms for child sexual predators who use social media to profile and groom susceptible minors. While social media companies have attempted to moderate and remove exploitative and abusive content, their techniques have been much more reactive than proactive.
What Compensation is Available Through a Social Media Harm Lawsuit?
If you have a child or young adult who suffered mental or physical harm due to excessive social media use, you could be entitled to recover compensation for various losses. The legal damages you might claim will depend on the specifics of your case. Common damages requested in these lawsuits include:
- Medical expenses, including therapy and mental health treatment costs, and ongoing medical care.
- Lost income of parents and other family members who take time off to help the injured child.
- Pain and suffering, including emotional trauma.
- Loss of enjoyment of life and impacts on the child’s education.
- Reduced earning capacity
- Punitive damages in some cases
Hach & Rose, LLP will work tirelessly to help you seek the maximum compensation available for the losses you and your child suffered as a result of social media harm. Contact our New York social media harm attorneys at (646) 603-1400 for a free consultation to discuss your unique situation and have your legal questions answered.
Why Choose Hach & Rose for Your Social Media Harm Lawsuit?
At Hach & Rose, we have a proven track record in representing families in complex product liability and mass tort cases. We understand the emotional and practical challenges families face when a child is harmed by a powerful corporation. We are committed to guiding you through the legal process with care, clarity, and tireless advocacy.
Take the First Step Toward Justice
If your child has suffered mental health issues linked to social media use, you may have a limited time to take legal action. Contact Hach & Rose today for a free, confidential case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue a social media company on behalf of my child?
Yes. Parents and guardians can file lawsuits on behalf of minors harmed by social media use.
What compensation can we seek in a social media lawsuit?
Families can seek compensation for therapy costs, medical expenses, emotional suffering, and impacts on education and social development.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Time limits vary by state. To protect your family’s rights, it is important to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible.
What if my child used multiple social media platforms?
You may still qualify to file a claim even if your child used multiple platforms.
Let Hach & Rose Fight for Your Family
When our children are being preyed upon by social media companies, they should be held accountable for prioritizing profits over the well-being of children. If you believe your child’s mental health struggles are linked to social media use, reach out to our team today.
Call (212) 779-0057 or fill out our online contact form for a free, no-obligation conference. We are here to help you take the next step toward holding irresponsible social media companies accountable and fighting for the financial recovery you deserve.