Social Media Victims Law Center

We are a team of legal professionals working to empower parents to protect children. We hold social media and AI companies accountable for harms to young users.

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

Social media companies are harming our children and teens as a cost of doing business, without any care for their well-being or mental health. Social Media Victims Law Center is working to bring these companies to justice on behalf of the countless families affected nationwide.

[60 Minutes @60Minutes]

“When they have an opportunity to choose between safety of our kids and profits – they always choose profits.”

Attorney Matt Bergman started the Social Media Victims Law Center to work with families pursuing lawsuits against social media giants. https://t.co/VwwNr3HiU9

[LBC @LBC]

'They're preying on young people's minds.'

Lawyer Matthew Bergman, who scored a landmark win against Meta and Google, says it's 'naive' to think social media giants will safeguard children without Parliament stepping in.

[Eleanor K. Gaetan @EkGaetan]

@twestes @angelq_ai @BetterFuture_AI @NCOSE @SocMediaVLC @realhumansfirst @AmyKremer @SpeakerJohnson Kentucky Mom Shannon Heacock lost her beautiful 16-year-old Elijah to a sextortion scheme facilitated by Meta and Tik Tok. Moms like Shannon are going to, together, achieve consumer protection for American kids online.

[Children and Screens @childrenscreens]

Matthew Bergman, JD, (@SocMediaVLC) explains why the legal team behind the recent trial verdict against Facebook and YouTube shifted their approach to suing platforms for harmful design instead of harmful content in this clip from the latest episode of #ScreenDeep.

Learn more: https://t.co/OhwEteQ4U1

[The Tech Oversight Project @Tech_Oversight]

"Money's great but the number one issue is fixing these products. These parents are pissed off and if you gave them the choice between a little bit of money and stopping these companies, there's no question," said @L_M_Garrett  of @SocMediaVLC, which represents over 40% of the personal injury cases.

[Take Justice Back @TakeJusticeBack]

The new @MarshaBlackburn-@SenTedCruz “compromise” gives new weapons to Big Tech to wield against parents whose kids have been injured or killed by social media platforms.

Don’t let Congress protect tech giants over kids. Speak out NOW.

[American Assoc. for Justice @JusticeDotOrg]

.@MarshaBlackburn and @SenTedCruz’s “compromise” arms Big Tech with even more power—ignoring the families they’ve devastated and making justice unreachable for grieving parents.

Tell Congress: Stop protecting the powerful. Protect our kids.

[Jolt.film @joltfilm]

"What is the Zuckerberg saying, 'Move fast and break things.' And what they broke, was our kids." - Laura Marquez-Garrett, Attorney, Social Media Victims Law Center (@SocMediaVLC).

Watch CAN'T LOOK AWAY now: https://t.co/EID8vNrvHe #watchonjolt #cantlookawaydoc #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #dctvny

[Design It For Us @DesignItForUs]

We joined @fairplayforkids & over 80 orgs to demand that @Meta STOP deploying AI chatbots to users under 18 & get rid of AI companion bots that simulate the likeness of a child or teen.

📨 Read our letter: https://t.co/PUOc4eacsa

[Jolt.film @joltfilm]

"When the product design kills people, and they know it kills people, they ought to be held accountable." - @SenBlumenthal

CAN'T LOOK AWAY follows a team of lawyers from @SocMediaVLC as they work to hold social media companies accountable for mental and physical harms—including drug overdose and suicide—that they believe can be directly attributed to the use of social media products and their algorithms.

Watch this urgent film on Jolt now to understand why: https://t.co/nsXyPksQgE @perripeltz @MattODocs @bbgoriginals @business @livcarville

[Organization for Social Media Safety @socialmedsafety]

On May 8, we honor the Social Media Victims Law Center—the lawfirm holding Big Socials accountable for their harms to kids.
🎬 Adolescence creators Stephen Graham & Jack Thorne
💛 Advocate & survivor mom Deb Schmill
🎟️ https://t.co/TW7VjKMcWH
#OFSMSGala #SMVLC #YouthMentalHealth

[Mothers Against Media Addiction @_WeAreMAMA]

Today, @SocMediaVLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of 11 families against Meta, ByteDance, Google, YouTube, & Discord for designing products that target kids with addictive features, leading to sextortion, anxiety, depression, and more. #WorldMentalHealthDay

https://t.co/vtTd0EH2kK

[Design It For Us @DesignItForUs]

CW: mentions of suicide

At the heart of all our advocacy are the countless stories of young people whose lives were put at risk for the benefit of Big Tech’s bottom line. We know we deserve better.

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

Mental-health struggles have risen sharply among young Americans, and parents and lawmakers alike are scrutinizing life online for answers.

#smvlc #keepkidssafe

https://t.co/QcGRxwYrx9

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

#Meta claims it needs AI to estimate user age. Not true! #BigTech has been estimating age with reasonable certainty FOR YEARS.  

See reporting in 2018 - Snap won back alcohol advertising money by developing tech that could determine user age with reasonable certainty. #PassKOSA

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

Let’s talk about just a few of the things Meta is not offering to do that KOSA will do 🧵

#PassKOSA #PassKOSPA #NoMore #NoChildLostToSocialMedia #SMVLC

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

Gen Z uses social media in part because they are trapped by it. 1/3 wish Instagram was never invented. Nearly half say that for TikTok. Hardly anyone says that for any normal consumer product.
(I teamed up with Will Johnson of The Harris Poll)

https://t.co/6kh5iNHY3Z

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

Is it good that #Meta is making some changes?  Yes, of course.

Do these relatively small changes mean we don’t need KOSA?  Absolutely not!

We need KOSA now more than ever, and #Meta knows it.

#PassKOSA #PassKOSPA #NoMore #NoChildLostToSocialMedia #SMVLC

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

Let’s talk about just a few of the things Meta is not offering to do that KOSA will do 🧵

#PassKOSA #PassKOSPA #NoMore #NoChildLostToSocialMedia #SMVLC

[Social Media Victims Law Center @SocMediaVLC]

#Meta also doesn’t promise to stop launching harmful filters (filters its own experts said would cause body dysmorphia in teen girls).  See Ex 3.  Or make interface changes to improve mental health in teen girls.  See Ex 43.