Note: This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, contact the national crisis hotline at 988 in the U.S.
At just 16 years old, Walker Montgomery encountered a tragic fate. A supposed teenage girl on Instagram lured him into cybersex as part of a sextortion scheme. Hours later, the Mississippi teenager ended his own life. The painful aftermath of this event continues to resonate with his father, Brian Montgomery, who struggles with the loss of his son.
This week has brought a mix of emotions for parents like Montgomery as social media giant Meta faced legal defeats. Juries from different states ruled that these platforms engage young users without regard for their well-being. Montgomery identifies the rulings as a significant shift.
“We’re talking about the most financially sound business that the planet has ever known. This will set an expectation,” Montgomery stated, following jury decisions in New Mexico and Los Angeles that found social media providers negligent in protecting young users.
Parents collectively agree that existing safeguards are insufficient, recognizing that children suffer as a result.
The first legal decision occurred Tuesday in New Mexico, where jurors sided with state prosecutors. They argued Meta, owning Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, prioritized profits over safety, leading to a $375 million penalty. The following day, another jury in Los Angeles determined that Meta and Google-owned YouTube intentionally designed platforms that ensnare young users without concern for their safety.
Both companies have expressed intentions to explore legal options, including appealing these verdicts. These decisions underscore a changing public perception of social media companies and their duty to protect young people online. Several court cases, varying in specifics, are now advancing this year, aiming to hold these companies accountable for actions on their platforms.
Though Montgomery was not a plaintiff in these legal actions, he indicates legislative change as the next step. “They’ve proven,” he critiques the social media industry, “that they can’t regulate themselves.”
For parents, these changes come too late. Montgomery recalls his son as an avid outdoors lover. Before encountering a Nigerian scammer, the teenager had retired to bed happily. Tragically, he was not seen alive the next day. A photograph taken during a duck hunting trip only months before serves as a reminder of Montgomery’s son, lost on December 1, 2022.
While Montgomery acknowledges the legal change, he wrestles with sadness knowing it won’t benefit his family. “Walker’s not coming back,” he laments.
Deb Schmill, from Dedham, Massachusetts, near Boston, understands the complex emotions these rulings evoke. Her daughter, Becca Schmill, was 18 when fentanyl poisoning took her life in September 2020. The drugs were purchased through a social media platform.
“That’s the painful part of all of this,” said Schmill, another parent uninvolved in ongoing lawsuits. “If this could have been done five years ago, 10 years ago. Things would be so different.”
Her daughter had endured a sexual assault initiated by someone met online and subsequently faced revenge porn. “She was a wonderful child, but she was just tortured,” Schmill reflects.
Like Montgomery, Schmill advocates for the Kids Online Safety Act, aimed at shielding children from online threats posed by social media and gaming sites. Despite passing the Senate two years ago, it has not progressed in the House.
Settling these cases against social media companies may take years due to appeals and potential settlement discussions. Unlike regions such as Europe and Australia, tech regulation progresses slowly in the United States.
“We know, the parents know better than anyone that when we are unable to hold the social media companies accountable, children die,” Schmill asserts. “And it’s just absurd that this is happening in our country.”
Even parents less directly impacted by tragedy share growing concerns. Charles Halley, dropping his son off at school in Alameda, California, perceives social media as harming children. His fifth-grade son remains without a phone due to apprehensions about social media’s influence.
“The divisiveness, the beauty standard, consumerism, just everything that’s wrong with society kind of packaged up and marketed to kids,” Halley expresses.
He notes parental frustration as they unite to counteract social media’s negative impact, though he doubts complete prevention is feasible.
“People my age, younger, older, have seen what social media has done to our behavior, the way we deal with each other,” Halley comments, alluding to accidents caused by excessive phone usage.
“And I would just assume that the effect is magnified for kids whose brains are still developing, and it’s just a shame to see them exposed that way.”
Halley concludes firmly, “That’s why I’m keeping my kid off social media.”
Contributions from Terry Chea in Alameda, California.