Social Media Harm Lawsuits for Children and Teens
Meta Agrees to Landmark Settlement Over Alleged Harm to Young Social Media Users
For years, parents have watched children and teenagers spend hours every day scrolling through social media while struggling with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, body image problems, self-harm, and other serious mental health issues. Now some of the largest social media companies in the world are facing lawsuits alleging that these harms weren't simply an unintended consequence of online life.
On August 26, 2026, Meta agreed to a proposed settlement worth up to approximately $17 billion to resolve lawsuits brought by state attorneys general over allegations involving Facebook and Instagram. The states alleged that Meta designed features that encouraged compulsive use among children and teenagers while misleading families and the public about the risks associated with its platforms.
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The settlement does not mean that every family harmed by social media will automatically receive compensation. It resolves government claims against Meta. Individual personal injury lawsuits involving young social media users are separate and continue to move forward.
Our personal injury attorneys at Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP are currently reviewing potential claims involving young people who suffered serious mental or physical harm after heavy use of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat.
If social media use changed your child's mental health, behavior, relationship with food, body image, or safety, now is the time to find out whether your family may have a legal claim.
The Meta Settlement Does Not End Individual Social Media Injury Lawsuits
What Did Meta Agree to in the Social Media Settlement?
The proposed settlement follows years of litigation over the way Facebook and Instagram were designed and marketed to young users.
According to the California Attorney General, the lawsuit alleged that Meta designed and deployed features that drove excessive use by children and teenagers while failing to adequately disclose the risks associated with those products. The states also alleged that Meta improperly collected personal information from children under 13.
Meta has denied wrongdoing. The proposed settlement remains subject to court approval.
If approved, the agreement would require major changes to Facebook and Instagram for users under 18, including:
- A default two-hour daily usage limit that only a parent can remove.
- A default block on overnight use between midnight and 6 a.m.
- Restrictions on notifications during school hours and overnight.
- A ban on displaying like and reaction counts to users under 18.
- A ban on cosmetic-procedure image filters for minors.
- An option for teenagers to use a non-personalized feed rather than an algorithmically targeted feed.
- Stronger parental supervision tools.
- New age-assurance measures intended to identify minors using the platforms.
- Independent oversight of Meta's compliance with the agreement.
These aren't minor changes. They address many of the same platform features that families and plaintiffs in individual social media injury cases say contributed to compulsive use and serious mental health consequences.
The Meta Settlement Does Not End Individual Social Media Injury Lawsuits
This distinction is critical.
The multibillion-dollar agreement settles claims brought by government entities. It is not a class-action settlement that automatically pays children, teenagers, or parents who suffered individual injuries.
Individual lawsuits alleging social media addiction and related injuries remain separate.
Federal personal injury cases involving social media platforms have been coordinated in multidistrict litigation known as In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation. Those cases involve allegations that platform design features encouraged compulsive use among young people and contributed to serious mental and physical harm.
The broader litigation isn't limited to Meta. Claims have also been brought involving other major social media platforms.
Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP is currently reviewing potential cases involving:
The attorneys at Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP can review your family's circumstances and determine whether a potential individual claim should be investigated.
Could My Child Qualify for a Social Media Harm Lawsuit?
Not every person who used social media will have a viable lawsuit. These cases generally require evidence connecting significant social media use with a serious, documented injury.
Our current case review is focused primarily on young people who:
Every situation is different. Meeting these general criteria does not guarantee that a lawsuit can be filed or that compensation will be recovered.
“I am sincerely grateful to Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano L.L.P. for representing me during one of the most difficult times in my life.”— B.S.
What Types of Social Media Harm Are Being Investigated?
The lawsuits aren't based simply on a child spending too much time on a phone. The strongest cases involve serious injuries that can be documented through medical records, mental health treatment, changes in behavior, hospitalization, or other evidence.
Potential claims may involve:
Eating Disorders
Social media platforms can expose young users to highly visual and personalized content involving weight, dieting, appearance, exercise, and body image.
Families may have a potential claim when heavy social media use substantially contributed to conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and purging, or another diagnosed eating disorder.
Body Dysmorphia
Body dysmorphic disorder involves an intense preoccupation with perceived flaws in appearance.
Claims may involve young users who were repeatedly exposed to appearance-focused content, cosmetic filters, comparison-driven features, or algorithmically recommended material and later developed significant body-image problems requiring professional treatment.
Depression and Severe Anxiety
Social media harm claims may also involve documented depression or severe anxiety associated with compulsive platform use.
Evidence from psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, physicians, hospitals, or other mental health providers can become important when establishing both the injury and its progression.
Suicidal Thoughts or Suicide Attempts
Some of the most serious cases involve young people who developed suicidal ideation or attempted suicide after prolonged social media use.
Families should preserve mental health records, hospitalization records, counseling records, platform information, and other documentation that may help establish when the symptoms began and how they developed.
Self-Harm
Cutting and other forms of intentional self-harm may also be involved in social media injury litigation, particularly when platform use exposed a young person to harmful material or reinforced dangerous behaviors.
Wrongful Death
Some families have lost children after suicide or other fatal harm allegedly connected to compulsive social media use.
These cases involve separate wrongful death laws and filing deadlines. Families should seek legal advice as soon as possible because the time available to pursue a claim can differ from the deadline that applies to a living injury victim.
Why Medical and Mental Health Treatment Matters
A social media harm lawsuit has to prove an actual injury. A parent's concern that their child became withdrawn or spent too much time online may be important, but the legal claim becomes much stronger when the harm is documented by qualified professionals.
Important evidence may include:
- Counseling or therapy records.
- Psychiatric treatment records.
- Primary care or pediatric records.
- Eating disorder treatment.
- Hospitalization or inpatient treatment.
- Medication history.
- Suicide attempt or self-harm treatment.
- School counseling or behavioral records.
- Records documenting significant weight loss or other physical changes.
Recent symptoms should also be taken seriously. A young person who has only recently developed depression, severe anxiety, or body-image problems should get appropriate professional care rather than waiting to see whether a legal case develops.
The priority is the young person's health. The medical record also helps establish when the harm began, how serious it became, and what treatment has been necessary.
What Evidence Can Help Prove Heavy Social Media Use?
One of the central questions in these cases is how a young person actually used the platform.
Families may not remember exactly how many hours their child spent on Instagram or TikTok several years ago, but digital records can sometimes help reconstruct that history.
Potential evidence can include:
- Screen-time records from phones or tablets.
- Social media account data.
- Account creation dates.
- Login and activity histories.
- Posts, direct messages, likes, and saved content.
- App-download records.
- Parental-control records.
- Emails connected to social media accounts.
- Photos or screenshots showing platform activity.
- Family testimony about changes in usage and behavior.
Don't delete a child's social media accounts, messages, or other potentially relevant information simply because the content is upsetting or embarrassing. That information may later become important evidence.
What Are Social Media Companies Accused of Doing?
These lawsuits don't claim that social media is automatically harmful to every child.
Instead, plaintiffs have alleged that companies deliberately incorporated product features intended to increase engagement and keep young users returning to their platforms.
The companies dispute allegations that their platforms caused individual users' injuries, and every case still requires proof.
But the Meta settlement represents one of the most significant developments yet in litigation over how social media products were designed for children and teenagers.
Depending on the lawsuit and platform, allegations have involved features such as:
- Infinite scrolling.
- Algorithmic recommendations.
- Push notifications.
- Likes and reaction counts.
- Beauty and appearance filters.
- Personalized feeds.
- Content recommendations based on previous engagement.
- Features that encourage repeated checking and continuous use.
What Should Parents Do If They Believe Social Media Harmed Their Child?
You don't need to know exactly which algorithm, feature, or piece of content caused the problem before speaking with an attorney.
Start by protecting the information that already exists.
Preserve the social media accounts. Don't delete profiles, messages, posts, photos, account histories, or app data.
Gather treatment records. Make a list of counselors, doctors, therapists, hospitals, treatment facilities, and other providers who treated the child.
Write down the timeline. Record approximately when social media use began, which platforms were used, when usage became heavy, and when the mental health or behavioral problems first appeared.
Save device information. Keep old phones or tablets if they may contain platform activity, screen-time records, messages, or account data.
Speak with an attorney before evidence disappears. Social media companies control enormous amounts of digital information that families may not be able to obtain on their own.
“My attorney and their team did an outstanding job handling my case. They are very responsive, respectful, and understanding.”— D.S.
Talk to Our Social Media Harm Lawyers About Your Child's Case
Parents trusted some of the world's largest technology companies with products their children used every day. The lawsuits now pending around the country raise serious questions about what those companies knew about young users, how their platforms were designed, and whether families were adequately warned about the risks.
The proposed Meta settlement does not automatically compensate individual families. If your child or young adult suffered an eating disorder, body dysmorphia, depression, severe anxiety, suicidal thoughts, a suicide attempt, self-harm, or another serious injury after heavy use of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat, you may still have an individual claim.
Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP has spent more than 90 years standing up for injured people and families. We are now reviewing potential social media harm cases involving young users.
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Tell us which platforms were used, when the use began, and what happened afterward.
If your child or another young person is in immediate danger or experiencing a mental health crisis, call 911 or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP — 800-692-3717