Big Tech’s killer apps: Watch grieving parents call out social media deaths

LOS ANGELES — Grieving parents and advocates gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday morning for a vigil honoring their children, whom they say died as a result of harms caused by social media.

Platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Meta and Alphabet are facing hundreds of lawsuits nationwide from parents and others, with plaintiffs alleging the companies knowingly designed addictive products that exposed children to danger, predatory exploitation and self-harm. The bellwether trial underway in Los Angeles centers on a now 19-year-old plaintiff known as KGM, who claims that prolonged use of social media platforms led to depression and suicidal thoughts because of their addictive features.

Over seven parents and family members stood together, holding photos of their deceased children. Each shared the circumstances of their loss and the impacts they’ve seen from social media.

Samuel Chapman, the father of Sammy Berman Chapman, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that his 16-year-old son overdosed on fentanyl that was delivered to their home through Snapchat.

“A counterfeit drug was delivered to our house like a pizza. A drug dealer reached out to him over the internet during lockdown when all the kids were locked in their rooms and online in our homes, what we thought were the safest place in the world. But it turns out that if you put your child on the internet, it’s like dropping them off in the worst drug-filled neighborhood and hoping they do well for themselves,” Chapman said.

“Sammy was found by his little brother on the floor in his room after the drug dealer networked through his school and presented a colorful drug menu, giving him something for free in an effort to get him addicted because fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and horribly addictive, and he would have had him as a customer for life if it didn’t kill him,” Chapman added. “But according to the DEA, the average online pill has 5 milligrams of fentanyl in it, and it only takes 2 milligrams to kill a child or someone who hasn’t taken it before. So Jackson, his brother, found him there, called out for us, came in and tried to resuscitate Sammy and failed. The firemen showed up, and they tried to bring him back, and they failed.”

WATCH:

: Los Angeles is set to kick off its landmark social media trial, where platforms like Meta and Alphabet face accusations of fueling harms that led to children’s deaths.

Yesterday, I spoke with grieving parents at a downtown LA vigil honoring kids they say died from social… pic.twitter.com/I0osTWdkGZ

— Hailey Grace Gomez (@haileyggomez) February 6, 2026

Chapman said that despite repeated requests for police to contact the platform and identify the drug dealer’s profile to pursue charges, authorities told him they “wouldn’t bother reaching out anymore because they don’t return the calls of the police.”

The teenager’s father has since become an advocate for Senate Bill 918 in California, which would require internet companies to maintain a human-operated, always-open line of communication with law enforcement and respond to valid subpoenas within 72 hours.

“Parents have been having a horrible time after they go to court and they do the work to find out what’s on their child’s device, and they present a subpoena to the platform, and the platforms don’t reply, or they hold it up, or they say they’re too busy or understaffed,” Chapman told the DCNF. “So now it’s a crime in California not to reply to subpoenas and not to help law enforcement.”

“I had PTSD for two years from trying to resuscitate my son and failing. His brother has anxiety and depression, and it took him a long time to feel better at all,” Chapman added. “We’re now pushing for Sammy’s Law in Congress, named after him, which will require all social media and gaming platforms with children as users to open a link to third-party safety software that will give parents a warning if anything dangerous or illegal, like drug dealing or suicide or sex trafficking, happens on their devices.”

Chapman said he had not noticed any signs that his son was concerned about drug use or obtaining drugs through social media. The family was “completely surprised” when they learned what their 16-year-old had been able to order.

Another parent, Victoria Hinks, shared her daughter’s story with the DCNF. Alexandra Hinks, known as “Owl,” was just 16 years old when she died by suicide 18 months ago.

“She was a beautiful girl inside and out. People would describe, if people could use one word to describe her, it was kind. She was just a kind person in a very unkind world, both online and otherwise in real life,” Hinks said. “She was just a joy. She was a wonderful kid. She just got sucked into these dark algorithms that these platforms served up to her. These social media platforms, they know everything about our kids.”

“She was a guinea pig in this first cohort of kids that these companies started doing this social experiment on. We see now that they’re hooked and addicted, and they can’t get off and they don’t know how,” Hinks added. “We did everything. We took her phone. We tried to take her phone away at night. We had to take her door off. We turned her into someone we didn’t recognize. She was a sweet, happy kid. But social media, we watched this downward spiral, knowing that it was just for profit.”

HInks stated that her daughter used various platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, but noted how recent features like SnapScore or the SnapMap enable kids to be constantly engaged to upkeep their streak online.

WATCH:

16-year-old Alexandra “Owl” Hinks’ story pic.twitter.com/TviMQNe7ly

— Hailey Grace Gomez (@haileyggomez) February 6, 2026

“They do addictive things like having a SnapScore or a streak, just to keep you engaged, because that’s how they make their money. It’s not in their best interest to get you off the platforms. Instagram, of course, is seeing sizzle reels of everyone living their best lives, unattainable, ridiculous beauty standards. I mean, this girl thought she wasn’t pretty enough without beauty filters,” Hinks told the DCNF as she showed a picture of her daughter.”

“She didn’t want this picture in the yearbook because she was afraid of how people would judge her for this picture. This is what these companies are doing,” Hink said. “They are eroding our  daughters’ [and] sons’ sense of self-worth, self-value, and just make them feel terrible about themselves. The kids themselves are saying it. They want to get off. They don’t know how, because it has to be all or nothing.”

Judy Rogg, founder and president of Erik’s Cause, retold her story about her 12-year-old son, Erik Robinson, who died in 2010 after attempting an online dare known as the “Pass Out” or “Choking Challenge.”

“It happened over the course of a day that he tried it and the next day he tried it by himself and didn’t make it through,” Rogg said. “This year will be 16 years that he’s gone. We had no clue back then that social media was pushing these things so we have been and continue to be on the educational path for schools, parents, communities, educators, etc. And when all of the advocacy, when the whistleblowers started coming out a few years ago, I got heavily involved.”

“These companies are making multi-trillions of dollars off of our kids and I mean, the safety mechanisms that they put in place, most of them don’t work,” Rogg added. “Kids want to know how to stop this. Kids are getting bombarded with all sorts of stuff they don’t want in all of the different harm areas. Most people don’t talk about challenges because they’re like, what? And they’re also frequently miscategorized as suicide just because of how it looks and the lack of education in the medical examiner and coroner community. But sunlight is a disinfectant. It’s the best disinfectant and getting the truth out into the sunlight, the bits and pieces we have seen so far, like Mark [Zuckerberg] wants to go after 13-year-olds now.”

WATCH:

12-year-old Erik Robinson’s story pic.twitter.com/K96l0ojvW4

— Hailey Grace Gomez (@haileyggomez) February 6, 2026

Prior to the case’s opening day, Snapchat and TikTok quietly settled, however, YouTube and Meta are still pressing forward. The trials outcome could potentially affect thousands of similar cases dating as far back to 2021, according to CBS News.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.