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17-year-old Missouri girl dies by suicide after Snapchat and TikTok addiction beginning at age 10 leads to severe depression and self-harm

Jan 1, 20231 source

Summary

A wrongful death case filed in the Social Media Adolescent Addiction MDL alleges that a 17-year-old girl from Missouri became addicted to Snapchat and TikTok starting around age 10 or 11. The lawsuit claims the addiction led to severe mental depression, escalating to self-harm and ultimately to her death by suicide. The case is part of the broader MDL consolidating thousands of personal injury and wrongful death claims against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube over algorithmic design features alleged to foster addiction in minors.

Incident Details

Domain
Addiction & Mental Health
Harm Types
Addiction
Cyberbullying

Repeated online harassment targeting individuals, often over sustained periods.

Severity
FatalityMinor involved

Who Was Affected

Age
Teen
Gender
Female
Group
Children