SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As a landmark social media addiction trial unfolds in Los Angeles, the lead attorney representing thousands of families nationwide made a stop in Sioux Falls Monday to speak about platform accountability, youth safety and the growing dangers facing children online.
Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, joins Amy Neville, president of the Alexander Neville Foundation, for a panel discussion following a screening of the Emmy Award-winning documentary Can’t Look Away at the Washington Pavilion’s Belbas Theater. The event is hosted by the Emily’s Hope Youth Prevention Coalition.
Bergman is serving as plaintiffs’ counsel in the closely watched social media addiction case currently being tried in Los Angeles, where attorneys are challenging how platforms design their products and the impact those design choices have on youth mental health. The broader litigation effort seeks to hold major technology companies accountable for alleged negligent product design and failure to protect children, while also testing the scope of Section 230 protections.
Bergman represents more than 4,000 families across the country in lawsuits involving social media-related harms, including cases tied to online drug sales and youth suicide.
“It’s a fight I’ve spent 30 years training for,” Bergman said. “It’s challenging—intellectually challenging, emotionally draining, but also very, very rewarding. I feel like this work has some of the same moral resonance that the Civil Rights movement had in the 1960s in that, by standing up for these parents, I’m, I’m really fulfilling my, my highest and best use as a lawyer.”
The legal strategy emerging from these cases centers on product liability theories rather than content moderation alone, arguing that recommendation algorithms, engagement mechanisms and design features may contribute to foreseeable harm. Courts across the country have allowed roughly 1,500 of Bergman’s cases to proceed, signaling what many legal observers describe as a pivotal moment in digital accountability litigation.
Amy Neville’s advocacy is deeply personal.
Her 14-year-old son, Alexander, died from fentanyl poisoning after purchasing what he believed was a legitimate pill through a social media platform. She is among the parents suing Snapchat and other companies, alleging that platforms failed to implement adequate safeguards to prevent drug sales to minors.
“I think it’s important to hear Alex’s story because it just shows it can happen to anybody,” Neville said. “He was a pretty typical 14-year-old who was doing normal 14-year-old things and got caught up in something that cost him his life.”
Neville has since become a national advocate for stronger online protections and increased awareness of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl that are marketed to teens through direct messaging and disappearing content features.
The Sioux Falls event brought national litigation into a local conversation. Angela Kennecke, founder of Emily’s Hope, said the goal is to equip families with information before tragedy strikes.
After losing her daughter Emily to fentanyl poisoning in 2018, Kennecke expanded the organization’s work into prevention education, naloxone distribution and youth coalition efforts. She said the intersection of social media, counterfeit pills and adolescent vulnerability is one of the most urgent public health issues facing families today.
The focus of the documentary screening and panel discussion is on how digital platforms can expose young people to drug sales, self-harm content and other risks, while also exploring the psychological and legal dimensions of the crisis.
Dr. Wallace Jackmon, a licensed clinical psychologist, will address the adolescent brain’s sensitivity to reward systems and peer validation, factors that can amplify the influence of algorithm-driven content.
As the Los Angeles trial continues, outcomes could shape how courts interpret technology companies’ responsibility for product design and youth safety. Legal analysts note that the case may influence future standards for warning labels, age-verification systems and algorithm transparency.
Bergman said the litigation effort is about more than courtroom victories.
By elevating the stories of families like the Nevilles, he said, the goal is to force a broader reckoning over how platforms are built and who bears responsibility when harm occurs.
