Thornton, Colorado– A Colorado woman whose son died from a fentanyl-laced pill he bought celebrated on social media A pair of provisions This week against Meta and YouTube, which it said opened the door to holding companies responsible for harm caused to children who use their platforms.
“The truth is out, and it’s time to hold them accountable for the design of the platforms,” said Kimberly Osterman, whose son Max died in 2021 at age 18. “They put profits over safety.”
While leafing through photo albums Thursday at her home in Colorado, Osterman thought about “the days before social media. The days before it lured you into endless scrolling.” His framed pictures with hearts and angel wings are scattered on the shelves.
Osterman said Max arranged to meet a drug dealer he contacted on Snapchat and bought what he believed was Percocet. The pill was filled with a lethal dose of fentanyl, and he died the next morning. Osterman is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit separate from the cases decided this week.
In Los Angeles on Wednesday. The jury found Both YouTube and Meta, which own and operate platforms including Instagram and Facebook, are responsible for harms to children because their platforms are designed to attract young users. The companies said they disagreed with the rulings and could appeal.
And in new mexico, The jury decided that he was dead knowingly Harmful to children’s mental health She hid what she knew about the sexual exploitation of children on her platforms. Meta said she would appeal.
Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc. He settled for an undisclosed amount In January, before the Los Angeles trial began. TikTok also agreed to the settlement, details were not disclosed.
Osterman is part of Parents for Safe Online Spaces, or ParentsSOS, a group of parents who have lost children to online harm and advocate for more regulation. She campaigned for Children’s Internet Safety Actis awaiting federal legislation that would require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on platforms potentially used by minors.
She hopes to see social media companies put in place strict guardrails, such as age verification technology, to prevent anyone under 18 from accessing the platforms.
“You think your kids are safe in their homes, in their bedrooms, but that’s not the case with the current state of social media,” she said.
Osterman knew Max was using Snapchat to communicate with friends, but he didn’t realize the danger he was facing. He loved lacrosse and wrestling and excelled academically, she said.
The man who sold him the pill, Sergio Guerra Carrillo, was sentenced to six years in prison on two distribution charges in 2023.
Snapchat did not immediately comment Thursday when asked about Osterman’s case. The company previously said it uses cutting-edge technology to proactively find and close drug dealer accounts and block search results for drug-related terms.
It is not yet clear whether the recent rulings against social media platforms will do this Lead to big changes. But the rulings show a growing desire to hold major social media companies accountable and demand real change. Technology watchdogs expect them to open the door to more lawsuits and regulations.
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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.