Instagram Addiction Lawsuits (2024)

Parents are filing lawsuits on behalf of their children. And they are not alone. State Attorneys General have also filed lawsuits against Instagram to protect children. And school districts around the country are suing Instagram and other social media companies because they are concerned about student wellbeing.

Parents are making their voices heard by joining the lawsuits against Instagram and other social media companies. These parents know and believe that their children suffered serious harm from using these apps, and they are tired of dealing with this issue alone. They recognize that they need help; that it’s not their fault or their child’s fault; and that parents like them need to hold social media companies accountable.

These parents are filing legal claims asserting that Instagram or other social media apps were a substantial factor in causing their children to suffer:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Self-harm
• Suicidal ideation
• Suicide

If you live in California and your child has been harmed by Instagram use, we may be able to represent you in a lawsuit seeking to recover compensation for your child’s personal injuries. If your child committed suicide, you may be eligible to recover for wrongful death.

The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued an advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health that explained, “the current body of evidence indicates that while social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents, there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.”

Congress is now investigating the effects of social media on young people’s lives. In January, the CEOs of social media companies, including Instagram’s parent company Meta, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “No one should go through the things that your families have suffered.”

“Social media companies have failed to police themselves at our kids’ expense,” according to the Committee’s website.

In internal documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, researchers at Instagram explained the harmful effects of social media:

• “We make body image worse for one in three teen girls.”
• “Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe themselves.”
• “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.”

Teens “often feel ‘addicted’ and know that what they’re seeing is bad for their mental health but feel unable to stop themselves.”

The Instagram Addiction Lawsuits are not part of a class action lawsuit but are a group of individually filed cases known as a mass tort lawsuit. Mass tort lawsuits involve many different individual cases that share a common theme, such as children’s injuries from Instagram. Each person allegedly harmed by Instagram has their own individual case and attorney, but many victims also share similar claims against Instagram.

Gibbs Law Group has played an important role in these lawsuits. Instagram and other social media platforms claimed that they were immune to suit and argued that these lawsuits should be dismissed. But our law firm successfully argued that the lawsuits should be allowed to move forward. These major victories were featured in BBC, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, The Verge, and more.