Tech giants hit with massive lawsuit: "Wrongful death"

The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) has filed a new lawsuit in the state of Delaware against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google. The lawsuit, which concerns personal injury and wrongful death, seeks to hold the companies directly responsible for the impact of their platforms on minors and links the design of the services to the deaths of four children.

According to the complaint, the companies were aware of the risks but chose to continue developing mechanisms designed to increase user engagement. According to the plaintiffs, the companies ignored repeated warnings from their own researchers and concealed evidence of harm. It is further alleged that systems were developed that created profiles of minors precisely during moments of psychological vulnerability, and that the platforms tracked behavioral patterns to promote diet and beauty advertisements, appearance-altering filters, and social comparison tools.

According to the plaintiffs, these features contributed directly to the development of depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation among young users.

The cases addressed in the lawsuit occurred between July 2024 and September 2025 in four states: Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Tennessee. The legal proceeding itself was filed in the state of Delaware, following the disclosure of internal company documents in other legal proceedings.

As of the report first published on the Engadget website, only Google responded to a request for comment:

"Providing a safer and healthier experience for young people has always been at the heart of our work. In partnership with mental health and parenting experts, we have developed services and policies that provide young people with an age-appropriate experience, alongside comprehensive parental controls. We express our deepest condolences to the families and are reviewing the claims raised in the lawsuit."

As a reminder, four US states recently filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive and that the company misled the public regarding their safety.