Parents across the country are desperate for answers after they say social media has ruined their kids’ mental health. They are asking a South Florida attorney for help. The Nightteam’s Heather Walker has tonight’s 7 Investigates.
Social media started out as a fun way for people to connect with friends but now, parents say it’s destroying their children’s lives.
Some traveling to Washington D.C to confront social app CEOs in a hearing before Congress.
U.S Senator: “Have you apologized to the victims?”
Other parents want to sue for what has happened to their children.
Jennifer Biggs/parent: “She had been doing some content on TikTok and she was being bullied.”
Jennifer Biggs says her 13-year-old daughter’s posts on TikTok turned her into a target.
Jennifer Biggs/parent: “There was one adult in particular that told her to kill herself. She became withdrawn, and depressed, wouldn’t talk really, wouldn’t do any social events with her friends. Starting cutting. I cut off TikTok from her life.”
Jennifer wants TikTok to take responsibility for what happened to her daughter.
Jennifer Biggs/parent: “Please care about our children. Our children are what matter the most. Care about their content so that there’s no more harm done.”
She looked into taking TikTok to court for not blocking content that could be dangerous to kids. But like other parents, she discovered it’s difficult.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “They would try to bring the suit in court and realize that, no, that’s not allowed.”
Attorney Kelvin Goode says under TikTok’s terms and conditions, users who want to sue have to first go through arbitration and you need a lawyer for that.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “These lawyers want to charge them by the hour. It was something that they couldn’t afford.”
You can only proceed to court if there is no agreement during arbitration. But there’s another hurdle. You have to hire a lawyer licensed to practice in California because, in the fine print, TikTok says that’s the only state where you can file.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “So imagine you’re in Florida and you have a claim against TikTok. You have to travel all the way to California to find a lawyer, all the way in California, to represent you.”
Goode has heard from thousands of families who want to take on social media giants. So he created a website called “Claims Hero.” It links parents with legal resources.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “Kids are in a mental health crisis right now. So I had to take action.”
Claims Hero isn’t a law firm and it doesn’t offer legal advice. But it does help people communicate with lawyers and navigate the arbitration process. So far, more than 6,000 families across the country have signed up.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “We’re getting hundreds of submissions a day of parents all saying like, the same thing: Their kids are addicted to this app.”
Right now claims Hero is focusing on TikTok but Goode says they intend to expand to other social media apps.
Kelvin Goode/Claims Hero: “I think parents are realizing that they can fight back, right? I think that we make it easy for them to fight back.”
Goode hopes that by helping parents fight back, the end result will be a safer online experience for all children.
Heather Walker, 7News.
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