TikTok Mental Health Lawsuit

Our Social Media Mental Health attorney at TruLaw is dedicated to supporting clients through the process of filing a Social Media Mental Health lawsuit.

With extensive experience in Consumer Protection cases, Jessica Paluch-Hoerman and our partner law firms work with litigation leaders and mental health professionals to prove how TikTok’s addictive features and other social media platforms caused you harm.

TruLaw focuses on securing compensation for mental health treatment expenses, emotional suffering, academic/career setbacks, and other damages resulting from your poor mental health outcomes related to social media usage.

We understand the psychological and emotional toll that Social Media Mental Health issues have on your life and provide the personalized guidance you need when suing TikTok.

Meet the Lead Social Media Mental Health Attorney at TruLaw

Meet our lead Social Media Mental Health attorney:

• Jessica Paluch-Hoerman: As founder and managing attorney of TruLaw, Jessica brings her experience in product liability and personal injury to her client-centered approach by prioritizing open communication and personalized attention with her clients. Through TruLaw and partner law firms, Jessica has helped collect over $3 billion dollars on behalf of injured individuals across all 50 states through verdicts and negotiated settlements.

How much does hiring a Social Media Mental Health lawyer from TruLaw cost?

At TruLaw, we believe financial concerns should never stand in the way of justice.

That’s why we operate on a contingency fee basis—with this approach, you only pay legal fees after you’ve been awarded compensation for your injuries.

If you or a loved one experienced mental health problems from TikTok videos and social media use that include depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm behaviors, or suicidal thoughts, you may be eligible to seek compensation.

Contact TruLaw using the chat on this page to receive an instant case evaluation and determine whether you qualify to join others in filing a Social media mental health lawsuit today.

In a coordinated effort starting in late 2024, a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general have filed lawsuits to force TikTok and its parent company ByteDance to change their practices.

The legal actions claim the popular video-sharing platform knowingly designed products that harm young users’ mental health.

These suits represent one of the most wide-ranging legal challenges to social media platforms by government officials to date.

Multiple States File Lawsuits Against Social Media Companies

The movement against social media companies has gained substantial momentum, with legal actions expanding beyond a single platform.

Key developments in the state-led legal actions include:

• Fourteen states including New York and California co-led the initial wave of lawsuits against TikTok in October 2024
• A total of 42 attorneys general have filed actions against Meta for Facebook and Instagram practices
• Additional cases target Snapchat, with New Mexico’s attorney general focusing on child protection failures
• Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in October 2024 that Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and ByteDance must face these lawsuits… * The cases are consolidated under Multi-District Litigation (MDL 3047) in federal court in California

Washington DC’s attorney general filed separate charges claiming TikTok employs addictive design to harm children while misleading users about safety measures.

The growing number of state-filed cases indicates broad concern about social media’s impact across political lines.

Key Allegations: Algorithm Design and Harmful Content

The core of the lawsuits centers on how these platforms allegedly manipulate users through deliberate design choices.

The state attorneys general make these specific claims about TikTok’s practices:

• The app’s algorithm intentionally promotes excessive, compulsive, and addictive usage patterns
• TikTok falsely claimed its platform is safe and appropriate for users as young as 12
• The recommendation system exposes young users to dangerous content, including material associated with eating disorders
• The platform’s design exploits neurological vulnerabilities in developing brains
• Live streaming features and virtual currency systems enable financial exploitation of underage users

Court documents assert TikTok knew about these harms but prioritized engagement metrics and profit over user safety.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s lawsuit specifically alleges that TikTok “deliberately exploits young people to induce compulsive, addictive social media use.”

Combining these cases could reshape how social media companies design their products and protect younger users.

A federal judge allowed many of these claims to proceed in late 2024, rejecting TikTok’s attempts to dismiss the cases based on Section 230 protections.

The lawsuits seek both financial penalties and court orders requiring fundamental changes to how these platforms operate.

Scientific studies have built a substantial body of evidence connecting TikTok usage to various mental health problems among young users.

Research published in peer-reviewed journals shows that the platform’s recommendation algorithm can rapidly expose teenagers to harmful content that may worsen existing mental health conditions.

Multiple studies indicate that excessive TikTok use correlates with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues, particularly among young girls and adolescents.

Research on Excessive Social Media Use and Depression

Recent scientific investigations have documented clear patterns between heavy TikTok consumption and declining mental wellbeing among young people.

Key findings from research studies include:

• A study in the Journal of Psychosocial Research found that addictive TikTok users showed markedly worse mental health than moderate or non-users, including higher depression levels
• Research published by the Center for Countering Digital Hate discovered that TikTok’s algorithm recommends depressive content to a TikTok account created by teens within 30 minutes of sign-up
• A 2024 WHO report documented an alarming rise in problematic social media use among adolescents, increasing from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022
• Multiple studies confirm that high levels of social media use over several years correlate with increased depression among middle and high school students
• Research published in Cyberpsychology found that depression symptoms can develop within weeks of beginning intensive platform use

Medical experts note that TikTok’s short-form video format creates a particularly powerful dopamine response in users’ brains.

The rapid succession of content combined with the variable reward mechanism (not knowing which video will appear next) mirrors techniques used in gambling machines.

This design potentially heightens addiction risk compared to other platforms.

TikTok’s Impact on Self-Harm and Eating Disorders

TikTok’s recommendation system has been shown to actively promote content related to self-harm and disordered eating to vulnerable users, according to multiple independent studies.

Research on TikTok’s promotion of harmful content reveals:

• A groundbreaking study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that TikTok shows self-harm content to new teen accounts in as little as 2.6 minutes after sign-up
• The same research documented that accounts were shown self-harm or eating disorder videos approximately every 206 seconds
• Content related to eating disorders has been viewed billions of times on TikTok according to a 2024 analysis
• Researchers found many videos promote eating disorders through coded hashtags designed to bypass moderation systems
• A study in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics documented that TikTok exposure worsened symptoms among children already diagnosed with eating disorders

The legal implications of these findings are substantial.

TikTok’s defense that study accounts “don’t behave like typical users” has been undermined by evidence showing that real teen accounts experience similar content recommendations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James cited these studies when filing a lawsuit against TikTok, stating the platform “intentionally exposes children to harmful content that can lead to mental health crises.”

Court documents show that TikTok has internal research confirming these effects but has continued to promote engagement over safety.

This knowledge could form an important basis for establishing liability in ongoing litigation, as plaintiffs must demonstrate the company knew or should have known about potential harm to users.

Social media mental health lawsuits are being filed by individuals and families across the country who suffered mental health injuries from addictive social media platforms.

TruLaw is currently accepting clients for the social media mental health lawsuit.

A few reasons to choose TruLaw for your social media mental health lawsuit include:

• If We Don’t Win, You Don’t Pay: The social media mental health lawyers at TruLaw and our partner firms operate on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if you win.
• Expertise: We have decades of experience handling consumer protection cases similar to the social media mental health lawsuit.
• Successful Track Record: TruLaw and our partner law firms have helped our clients recover billions of dollars in compensation through verdicts and negotiated settlements.

If you or a loved one suffered mental health injuries related to social media use, you may be eligible to seek compensation.

Contact TruLaw using the chat on this page to receive an instant case evaluation that can determine if you qualify for the Social Media Mental Health Lawsuit today.