Two Canadian families join American parents in a lawsuit against social media giants

WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide and sexual extortion.

When BC teen Amanda Todd sat at her computer and took to social media to detail the brutal bullying and extortion she had faced, it sent shockwaves through parents around the world. Now, 12 years later, her family is joining others in a lawsuit claiming these dangers to children persist online.

Just a few weeks after posting the viral video, 15-year-old Todd died by suicide in October 2012.

“Why isn’t life safer for children?” her mother Carol Todd asked in an interview from Port Coquitlam. “Why are more children being harmed?”

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of 11 families — two of whom are Canadian — who say their children have suffered physical and mental harm as a result of social media platforms.

It is alleged that some of the world’s largest tech companies have knowingly designed and marketed flawed products for children to boost engagement rates.

Some children have committed suicide after being targeted by strangers for sextortion, where someone threatens to reveal sexually compromising information or images. Others developed eating disorders or depression and had to be hospitalized.

The lawsuit names tech giants Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – Snapchat, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, Discord and Google, owner of YouTube.

“What happened to these children was neither an accident nor a coincidence. It was a predictable result of deliberate design decisions they make to maximize their commitment to safety,” said Matthew Bergman, the founder and attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, that is handling the case.

“They make money by selling ads to kids and selling kids’ data.”

Google said the allegations are not true. Spokesman José Castañeda said Google worked with experts to develop services and policies to provide age-appropriate experiences and parental controls.

The other companies did not comment. Their websites generally say they have age limits and prohibit content that causes harm. TikTok’s website says it moderates content “involving goods or activities that may be risky, addictive, dangerous, fraudulent, or otherwise require a higher degree of care.”

More and more lawsuits have been filed against tech giants, claiming that children are being harmed by exposure to social media.

Blackmail leads to suicides

The latest lawsuit points to internal documents and research, including from the Facebook Papers, that were released by a whistleblower. It quotes meta-documents that read: “the young are the best. You want to bring people to your service young and early.”

Todd started using Facebook in 2008. The platform was new and her mother, like most people, thought it was designed to be fun and safe. Todd soon became entangled in years of extortion.

Aydin Coban, a Dutch woman, started blackmailing Todd with a photo taken when she pulled up her shirt during a chat. His Canadian criminal trial found that Coban used 22 online aliases to harass Todd for two years, starting when she was twelve years old.

That was Coban convicted of intimidation and extortion in Canada. He was also convicted in the Netherlands on similar charges involving the online extortion of 33 young girls and gay men.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta could have taken several steps to make its product safer for minors and to prevent strangers from contacting children.

The lawsuit includes the family of another Canadian teen who died more than a decade after Todd’s case made headlines across the country.

Harry Burke went to his father for help after the 17-year-old boy from Prince Edward Island sent an explicit photo on Snapchat and was extorted for money.

According to the lawsuit, his parents planned to go to RCMP in the morning, but that evening… Burke died by suicide.

The lawsuit also represents American parents who say their children have become depressed and suicidal because of social media platforms.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said earlier this year that the youth mental health crisis is an emergency “and that social media is a major contributor,” calling for a tobacco-style warning label on the platforms.

Bergman, the attorney leading the case, said the lawsuit argues that “these are dangerous products… and are expected to cause harm to children.”

They are designed to get more engagement from young people by showing more extreme material and encouraging them to interact more with the platform, Bergman said, and it leads to addiction and psychological damage.

Governments that make law

Concerns about the safety of social media have sparked a response from lawmakers on both sides of the border.

Canada’s Liberal government has attempted to pass an online harms bill. It has drawn criticism, including from opposition Conservatives, who say it will create a new bureaucracy.

The US is also moving forward with its own Kids Online Safety Act, creating a “duty of care,” a legal term that requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm. That bill passed in the Senate, but it is less certain what will happen in the House.

Carol Todd encouraged parents to reach out to resources like the Canadian Center for Child Protection and make sure their children know they can talk to an adult if something happens.

She said it was important to join other families in the lawsuit to make social media safer for children.

“I can’t bring my child back… it’s to protect other children.”

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There is support for anyone who has been sexually abused. This way you have access to crisis lines and local support services Canadian government website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you, call 911.

If you or someone you know is struggling with this, you can get help here:

This guide from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health describes how to talk about suicide with someone you are concerned about.