A major legal action is alleging social media is harmful, especially for young people. The lawsuits are targeting platforms many of us use every day.
And now, a young woman from Glastonbury is opening up about how the apps were so damaging to her.
“For me, it just ended up turning very, very severe,” Caroline Koziol said.
Koziol bravely shared how social media affected her growing up.
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The Connecticut native is among hundreds of plaintiffs alleging the platforms are designed to hook users and can encourage addictive behavior in young people.
“It's horrifying when you think about it,” Koziol said.
The now 19-year-old said her online searches including on Instagram began with funny videos, then exercise routines during the pandemic.
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Later, she alleges she was being bombarded with dangerous diet culture content.
“I had an eating disorder, which lasted for a very long time. And a huge part of that was caused by all of the negative body image and food and diet related things that I saw on social media,” Koziol said.
Right now, Koziol’s lawsuit and other similar ones are working through a federal court in California.
“We’ve taken a different approach with this which is to go after these companies as defective product designers,” Jessica Carroll, an attorney with Motley Rice, said.
Carroll said those being sued are Meta, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Google. She said they’re looking to help affected families, as well as to improve social media.
“To build in features that allow me to say 'I don’t really want to see these things. I don’t want a continuous feed.' I’m not saying to get rid of those things but allow the user the control,” Carroll said.
Koziol is now in college and while she still uses social media, she’s found ways to better manage it.
She hopes her speaking out can make a difference for those who might be struggling.
“I just want to be able to help other people who are going through it and to hold the social media platforms accountable for the actions that they've taken that have caused so many issues within our youth. I mean, the mental health crisis is real, and a lot of it is because of social media,” Koziol said.
Koziol and her family urge people not to suffer in silence, and to reach out for help.
We’ve reached out to the social media companies for comment.
So far, only Google responded, saying the allegations are not true and it’s worked with experts to make sure parents have strong controls and young people have an appropriate experience.
