‘Victims of Instagram’: Meta faces legal action over teens who died by suicide

Meta is facing a fresh storm of lawsuits blaming Instagram for eating disorders, depression and suicides among children and teens.

Meta is facing a fresh storm of lawsuits that blame Instagram for eating disorders, depression and even suicides among children and teens — and experts say the suits are using a novel argument that could pose a threat to Mark Zuckerberg’s social-media empire.

The suits — which are full of disturbing stories of teens being barraged by Instagram posts promoting anorexia, self-harm and suicide — rely heavily on leaks by whistleblower Frances Haugen, who last year exposed internal Meta documents showing that Instagram makes body image issues and other mental health problems worse for many teens, reports the New York Post.

Mental health and suicide are not easy subjects to talk about, but news.com.au wants you to know you’re Not Alone. News.com.au’s Not Alone will raise awareness about these issues and provide you with the resources needed to reach out for help.

The leaks provide proof that Meta was well aware its products were hurting children but chose to put growth and profits over safety, the suits claim. Some of the suits also name Snapchat and TikTok, which the plaintiffs argue have also pushed addictive products despite knowing the deadly downsides.

“In what universe can a company have a product that directs this kind of vile filth, this dangerous content to kids — and get away with it?” said Matthew Bergman, the founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which has filed more than a half-dozen of the lawsuits. “These products are causing grievous harm to our kids.”

Parents are accusing Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram of fostering mental harms in their children. Picture: Nicholas Kamm / AFP

‘Free speech’ loophole

Mr Bergman faces an uphill battle due to an American law that has largely protected social-media companies from similar litigation — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. But he has also has a novel legal strategy based on Ms Haugen’s leaks that the families he represents hope will force Meta to change its ways.

Meta and other tech companies have fought off lawsuits for years using Section 230, which was intended to preserve internet users’ free speech by preventing web platforms from being held legally liable for content posted by third parties.

But Mr Bergman argues that the problem with Instagram is not just that third parties post harmful content on the app — it’s that Instagram’s design can intentionally route vulnerable users toward such content, as detailed by Ms Haugen’s leaks. Therefore, he argues, the company shouldn’t be protected by Section 230.

“It’s our belief that when you attack the platform as a product, that’s different than Section 230,” Mr Bergman said. “(Section) 230 has been a barrier and it’s something we take seriously and we believe we have a viable legal theory to get around it.”

Meta did not return a request for comment.

Frances Haugen’s leaks show that it’s Instagram’s addictive design choices — not just third-party users — that are hurting kids, the lawsuits argue. Picture: Drew Angerer / POOL / AFP

Self-harm, addiction and death

One suit centres around a Louisiana girl named Englyn Roberts, who died by suicide in 2020 at age 14.

According to the suit filed in July in San Francisco federal court, Ms Roberts’ parents had no idea the extent to which she was quietly being “bombarded by Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok with harmful images and videos”, including “violent and disturbing content glorifying self-harm and suicide”.

The more the teenager allegedly interacted with such photos and videos, the more the apps recommended similar content that kept her hooked in a vicious cycle. She started exchanging self-harm videos with her friends, including one disturbing video in September 2019 depicting a suicide, according to screenshots included in court papers.

In August 2020, Ms Roberts attempted to take her own life. Her parents found her hours later and she was rushed to the hospital. She was put on life support and died days later.

Englyn Roberts, who died by suicide at age 14, was allegedly barraged by ‘violent and disturbing content glorifying self-harm and suicide’ on Instagram. Picture: New York Post

About a year after Ms Roberts’ death, her father saw a report about Ms Haugen’s leaks about Instagram’s harms. He subsequently searched his daughter’s old phones and social media accounts and uncovered her posts and messages about suicide.

“What became clear in September of 2021 is that Englyn’s death was the proximate result of psychic injury caused by her addictive use of Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok,” the suit reads.

This manoeuvre around Section 230 means “Meta should be worried,” according to a recent analysis of one of Mr Bergman’s suits by Gonzaga School of Law Professor Wayne Unger.

“The reasons for Section 230 immunity fall flat with respect to Spence’s lawsuit,” Mr Unger wrote. “If the primary beneficiary of Section 230 protection is the internet user, then it follows that platforms should not be allowed to use Section 230 immunity for the harms the platforms directly cause their users.”

‘Knowingly releasing a toxin’

Mr Bergman previously represented asbestos victims before switching to social media lawsuits last year in the wake of Ms Haugen’s testimony.

“To me that was basically everything I’ve seen in the asbestos industry times one hundred,” Mr Bergman said of Ms Haugen’s leaks. “Both (asbestos producers and Meta) were knowingly releasing a toxin.”

Other alleged victims of social media represented by Mr Bergman’s firm include two other teens from Louisiana and another from Wisconsin who all died by suicide after being hooked on social media apps.

An additional disturbing suit filed by a Connecticut mother alleges that her daughter took her own life at just 11 years old after becoming addicted to social media apps and being barraged by sexually explicit videos from strangers. The pre-teen girl even made a video of herself death, the suit claims.

Other suits have been filed by victims who are still alive but who say they have suffered from severe anorexia, mental trauma and other harms harm due to their social media use.

This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission