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Hartford County mother Tammy Rodriguez of Enfield said she noticed a change in her daughter, Selena, as she became addicted to the media platforms, reported Bloomberg News.
The child suffered from depression and sleep deprivation after becoming addicted, Rodriguez alleged in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court.
Rodriguez said in the suit, Selena struggled for two years with "extreme addiction," and that the companies have deliberately designed algorithms that keep users hooked, Bloomberg reported.
She added that Selena took her own life after struggling with the harmful effects of these platforms.
Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, who represents Rodriguez, told the news outlet: “There is a mental health epidemic among American teens,” Bergman said.
He added that he anticipates a significant number of similar cases after a former Facebook employee turned whistle-blower testified in Congress the company knew the harmful impacts of platforms such as Instagram.
Bergman said Selena would become physically violent if they (the family) tried to take her access to social media.
Rodriguez attempted to get help for her daughter for two years before she took her life, but the therapist said she had never seen a child so addicted to the sites, according to the lawsuit.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has launched an investigation into these platforms.
In a statement last year, Tong said the investigation into Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, focuses on the platforms for providing and promoting its social media platform – Instagram – "to children and young adults despite knowing that such use is associated with physical and mental health harms."
In a statement Wednesday, Feb. 2, a spokesperson for Snapchat said that it is devastated.
“We are devastated to hear of Selena’s passing and our hearts go out to her family. While we can’t comment on the specifics of active litigation, nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community," read the statement.
"In fact, Snapchat helps people communicate with their real friends, without some of the public pressure and social comparison features of traditional social media platforms, and intentionally makes it hard for strangers to contact young people. We work closely with many mental health organizations to provide in-app tools and resources for Snapchatters as part of our ongoing work to keep our community safe.”
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