Social Media Suicide Lawsuit Claims Addictive Instagram, Snapchat Features Fueling Teen Mental Health Crisis

According to one mother, a 16 -year-old took his own life after Instagram flooded his feed with content that encouraged him to commit suicide.

A group of eight plaintiffs, including the family of a teen who committed suicide, have filed a social media addiction lawsuit against the owners of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Discord and Snapchat, claiming the websites are intentionally designed to exploit children’s mental health for the sake of profit.

The complaint (PDF) was brought in the Superior Court of California on July 28, naming Meta Platforms Inc., Instagram LLC, Facebook Payments Inc., Siculus Inc., Facebook Operations LLC, Snap Inc., Bytedance LTd, BytenDance Inc., Tiktok Ltd., Tiktok LLC, Tiktok Inc., Google LLC, YouTube LLC, Discord Inc. and Roblox Corporation as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, these companies knowingly and intentionally placed products that were dangerous and destructive for children on the market, using powerful algorithms to collect their private data, and using that information to foster social media addiction. These tools include notifications, endless scrolling and other features designed to keep young users repeatedly returning to the apps.

These companies collectively face about 3,000 social media addiction lawsuits over their alleged impacts on youth and young adults. Many filings claim the sites’ addictive design features can cause children and teens to experience anxiety, depression, eating disorders, lower academic performance, behavioral problems, self-harm and suicide.

Social Media Suicide Allegations

One of the plaintiffs, Kaira Rysdam, is representing Brehnan “Bear” Rysdam, of Oregon, who allegedly became addicted to social media, leading to depression and eventual suicide. The filing claims the addiction was gradual and assisted by the widespread use of social media in school, by friends, and by groups such as his lacrosse team, which led to his parents consenting to the use of more and more apps.

Rysdam’s mother alleges algorithms on sites like Instagram detected that her child was watching content about depression and suicide and, instead of recommending help, began referring him to even more content about ending one’s life. Kaira Rysdam only discovered this when she began scrolling through her son’s phone.

“She scrolled further and saw advertisements and recommendations (that is, not for accounts he followed) pushing self-harm quotes, depression, and suicidality. Tons and tons of content. Messages conveying that Bear was worthless, and that it was his time to not be here anymore. And Instagram organized and displayed all of it to him in a manner that was overwhelming and harmful in itself.”

— Kaira Rysdam et al. v. Meta Platforms Inc. et al.

Rysdam took his own life on November 9, 2025. His mother noted that she checked his phone less than two months after his death and found that, in that short time, Rysdam had received 426 YouTube notifications. In one day alone she noted he received 37 Facebook notifications, 3 Instagram notifications, another three from YouTube and six from Snapchat.

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Germany Leazer of North Carolina and Sheilia Adams from California. Additionally, there are several plaintiffs identified only by initials, including S.B. and N.B. from Hawaii, N.G. and S.G. from New York, B.H. and S.H. of Indiana, V.T. and L.M. from Florida, and Y.G. and G.B. of Arizona.

All of the plaintiffs share similar stories of growing social media addiction and mental health damage suffered by minors allegedly due to the design of the social media platforms. The lawsuit presents claims of design defect, failure to warn, negligence – design, negligence – failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent concealment, negligence per se, wrongful death, loss of consortium and survival action. It seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Social Media Addiction Lawsuit Trials

The complaint was filed in California state court, which is hosting hundreds of similar social media addiction lawsuits. At the federal level, all similar claims have been consolidated in the Northern District of California under U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Both California state court and Judge Rogers have begun holding a series of “bellwether” social media addiction trials. These early test cases will provide an opportunity to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. In many cases, most social media companies have settled before trial, with the exception of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.

In March, a California jury ordered Meta and Google to pay $6 million to a woman who alleged she developed anxiety and depression after becoming addicted to social media as a minor. That verdict came after a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay the state $375 million after finding the company liable for contributing to teen social media addiction and related mental health problems.

The first federal bellwether trial was supposed to begin in June, but Meta reached a settlement with the Breathitt County School District, leading to the trial being cancelled. The next federal bellwether trial is scheduled to begin February 8.

None of the outcomes of these trials are binding on other cases, but they are being closely watched, as the results could help contribute to negotiations for a social media addiction settlement.

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