Social media was designed to connect people, but for too many children and teens, it has become a tool for exploitation, manipulation, and lasting harm. Major platforms have been accused of knowingly failing to protect young users from predators and prioritizing profits over child safety. If your child has been exploited, groomed, or psychologically harmed due to social media, you may have legal recourse through a social media child exploitation lawsuit.
Despite public promises of safety, many social media platforms have been linked to sexual exploitation, with predators using direct messaging, livestreams, and comment sections to target minors. Inadequate age verification allows minors unrestricted access to harmful material – and predators far too much access to vulnerable children to exploit.
A distinct failure to remove exploitative content has also become an issue. Despite reports, some platforms delay or ignore dangerous posts, allowing this problem to continue unchecked as harm continues to be inflicted on children on social media. Parents trust these companies to provide safe environments, but instead, many have prioritized growth over child welfare.
All the while, predators manipulate vulnerable youth into trusting them, leading to child exploitation on these widely used platforms. They use tactics such as grooming, manipulation, and deception to get their victims to trust them, and children suffer while the decision-makers behind these social media sites do little to stop the exploitation.
Far too often, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is spread via various social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and more. With little to no accountability, these images are circulated by child predators across those platforms, and some of the worst crimes that can be committed against a child are shared in image and video form and distributed across the internet.
“United States federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (a person less than 18 years old),” the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) notes.
“Outside of the legal system, NCMEC chooses to refer to these images as Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) to most accurately reflect what is depicted – the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when these files are shared across the internet, child victims suffer re-victimization each time the image of their sexual abuse is viewed.”
Social media companies’ lack of adequate action in the face of this massive issue is shocking. For those who have been victimized, there is legal recourse.
Social media child exploitation lawsuits may be able to hold platforms accountable for negligence – failing to implement reasonable safeguards – and emotional distress and financial damages in the form of compensation for survivors and their families for medical bills, therapy, and other losses.
If you or your child was exploited, groomed, or abused by predators due to social media, you may be entitled to compensation. Corporate giants should not escape responsibility for the harm they enable. Our legal team may be able to help you fight for justice on behalf of exploited children and your family.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us today for a free, no-obligation, confidential case review. We’ll listen to your story, explain your legal options, and help you take the next steps toward justice and healing.
Let us stand with you in this fight. Call Phillips Law Group today at 602-222-2222 to learn more.
Phillips Law Group
N/a
Available 24/7 
