{"id":5615,"date":"2026-08-20T06:41:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2026-08-20T06:41:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:41:03","slug":"i-think-that-were-going-to-make-history-here-angry-parents-of-kids-sextorted-cyberbullied-or-addicted-to-social-media-are-out-for-vengeance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Written on it in black ink were the names of children and young adults who have died from social media related harms, including deaths by suicide after bouts of cyberbullying or sextortion. Giovanni, an 11-year-old, Bubba, a 13-year-old, and Englyn, a 14-year-old, were among the nearly 600 names. Parents said the names were \u201cjust the tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5613\">Unitree, famous for its dancing robots, surges by 460% on its trading debut, lifting valuation to $66 billion, far ahead of U.S. competitors<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBehind us, justice is going to be served,\u2033 said Lennon Torres, an advocate with the organization Heat Initiative. \u201cThe courtroom doors are open, and it is time that the public see what the executives at Meta have known all along: that their products are designed to addict and to harm children.\u2033<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many of the gathered parents have attended previous trials, congressional hearings and other events related to online child safety. But they say this trial, in which the\u00a0attorneys general from four states\u00a0are seeking billions of dollars in damages for social media harms to children, marks a significant moment.<\/p>\n<p>They see it as the culmination of years of work and public pressure on social media firms to do more to protect kids online. Social media companies are increasingly\u00a0facing lawsuits over harms to young users, and Meta already has lost two pivotal\u00a0cases over harms to children and teens\u00a0this year, both of which it is appealing.<\/p>\n<p>The trial represents a \u201cgroundswell of public perception changing against these companies,\u201d said Amy Neville, whose 14-year-old son Alexander Neville died from fentanyl poisoning after being deceived by a drug dealer operating on Snapchat. Neville, like many other parents who have lost their children in similar ways, has dedicated her life to\u00a0educating and spreading awareness\u00a0of the dangers of social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can keep holding them accountable over and over, something has to give, and I don\u2019t want us to stop doing this until they\u2019ve made their products safe by design,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Lawsuit focuses on broad claims<\/h4>\n<p>This lawsuit is not focused on any individual person, case or specific harm tied to social media, but rather broader claims that Meta made decisions in designing Instagram and Facebook that put young users at risk. The states also claim Meta knew the platforms to be dangerous and lied about how dangerous they were.<\/p>\n<p>Meta has rejected the allegations and said the trial will show the work it has done to make its platforms safer.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The trial\u2019s outcome could have significant consequences for Meta\u2019s bottom line and how its platforms are designed and operated. But many parents are eager for evidence from the trial, namely internal Meta documents, to be brought to light.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5611\">Texas\u2019 screwworm could be fatal for the unadopted dogs and cats in rescue shelters statewide<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>John DeMay, whose son Jordan died by suicide at age 17 after being subject to a sextortion scheme on Instagram, is one of those parents who will be closely watching the trial and the evidence that emerges.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs this information starts to unfold and unfold and unfold, the American people, the American mothers and the American fathers who are not seeing this stuff every day can see it and go, \u2018Oh my God, this is really what\u2019s happening,\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the parents present outside of the courtroom were residents of the four states that are the plaintiffs in this trial \u2014 California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey \u2014 and they thanked their attorneys general for the work on the case.<\/p>\n<p>Lori Schott of Colorado said Attorney General Phil Weiser has viewed the content that populated her daughter Annalee\u2019s social media feeds and read her journals after her death by suicide. Annalee, who was 18 when she died, wrote in her journals about feeling ugly and comparing herself to other girls\u2019 social media profiles.<\/p>\n<h4>Parents call for accountability<\/h4>\n<p>In a message to Meta, its\u00a0CEO Mark Zuckerberg\u00a0and the\u00a0head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, Schott said outside of court that they have built one of the most powerful companies in the world, \u201cbut power does not excuse harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cProfits does not erase the responsibility of Big Tech and no company \u2014 no matter how wealthy, no matter how influential, no matter how untouchable it feels it is \u2014 should get to stand above the truth, the law and our children,\u201d Schott continued.<\/p>\n<p>Many parent advocates seemed to carry optimism with them on Tuesday. Erin Popolo, whose daughter Emily Murillo died by suicide after being subject to intense cyberbullying, was hopeful the trial\u2019s outcome could lead to meaningful change on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5609\">\u2018Harvest their data and hide the truth from the public\u2019: Four states seek billions from Meta over child safety practices<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that we\u2019re going to make history here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Associated Press journalist Terry Chea contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As opening statements kicked off Tuesday in a\u00a0trial for Meta Platforms, advocates and parents of social media victims gathered outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meta"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As opening statements kicked off Tuesday in a\u00a0trial for Meta Platforms, advocates and parents of social media victims gathered outside the courthouse.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615\"},\"wordCount\":841,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Meta\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615\",\"name\":\"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=5615#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"As opening statements kicked off Tuesday in a\u00a0trial for Meta Platforms, advocates and parents of social media victims gathered outside the courthouse.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance","datePublished":"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615"},"wordCount":841,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp","articleSection":["Meta"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615","name":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-20T06:41:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1eb4c59ef060460e0410716149dfc1d7.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5615#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018I think that we\u2019re going to make history here\u2019: Angry parents of kids sextorted, cyberbullied or addicted to social media are out for vengeance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}