Woman whose son died from drugs bought on social media celebrates verdicts against Meta, YouTube
THORNTON, Colo. — A Colorado woman whose son died from a fentanyl-laced pill he purchased on social media celebrated two verdicts this week against Meta and YouTube that she said opened the door to holding the companies accountable for harm caused to children using their platforms.
“The truth is coming out and it’s time they were held accountable for the design of the platforms,” said Kimberly Osterman, whose son Max died in 2021 at age 18. “They put profits before safety.”
Flipping through photo albums Thursday at her home in Colorado, Osterman reflected on “the days before social media. The days before infinite scrolling beckoned.” Photos of him in frames with hearts and angel wings dotted the shelves.
Osterman said Max arranged to meet a drug dealer he connected with on Snapchat and purchased what he thought was Percocet. The pill contained a lethal dose of fentanyl and he was dead the next morning. Osterman is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit that is separate from the cases tried this week.
On Wednesday in Los Angeles, a jury found YouTube and Meta, which own and operate platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, liable for harming children for designing their platforms to attract young users. The companies said they disagreed with the verdicts and could appeal.
And in New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed the mental health of children and hid what she knew about child sexual exploitation on her platforms. Meta said she would appeal.
Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., settled an undisclosed sum in January, just before the trial began in Los Angeles. TikTok also agreed to settle, and details were not disclosed.
Osterman is part of Parents for Safe Online Spaces, or ParentsSOS, a group that includes parents who have lost children to online harm and who advocate for more regulation. He campaigned for the Kids Online Safety Act, pending federal legislation that would require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent harm on platforms that minors are likely to use.
She hopes to see social media companies adopt strict safeguards, such as age verification technology, to prevent anyone under 18 from accessing the platforms.
“You think your kids are safe in their house, in their room, but that’s not the case with the current state of social media,” she said.
Osterman knew Max was using Snapchat to communicate with his friends, but didn’t realize the danger he was in. She said he loved lacrosse and wrestling and was bright academically.
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 verdicts against social platforms will lead to major changes. But the verdicts demonstrate a growing desire to hold big social media companies accountable and demand meaningful change. Tech watchdogs expect to open the door to more lawsuits and regulations.
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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.
