Case guide
Check whether a TikTok notice concerns data or an injury claim. Ask for a review of your child’s actual account and health records.
Updated Oct 4, 202611 sources
See If You Qualify
Free · No obligation · About 2 minutes
Updated Oct 4, 202611 sources
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Kira E. Riehm · Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health · Lead author of the 2019 cohort study
Finding: The 2019 study linked more reported social media time with later reports of inward distress, alone or alongside behavior problems.
Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth (opens in a new tab) · Sep 11, 2019 · Checked Oct 3, 2026
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health · JAMA Psychiatry · 2019
Read the source: Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth (opens in a new tab) · Checked Oct 3, 2026
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2023
Read the source: Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory (opens in a new tab) · Checked Oct 3, 2026
The process
You answer a few questions
About two minutes. Nothing is sent until you agree on the last step and press submit.
A lawyer looks at it
A lawyer at the firm reads your answers and checks them against the current case criteria.
The firm decides and gets in touch
If the firm takes your case, you get the terms in writing to read before you sign. You can always say no.
A claim about children’s data is not the same as a claim about illness. Ask which legal action and harm a notice concerns.
The FTC’s 2024 announcement describes a DOJ suit alleging violations of children’s privacy law and an earlier order. That announcement is not a clinical study or a payment award for addiction. Give a lawyer the actual notice and the facts about your child’s account.
The privacy announcement does not show what caused one child’s illness. The youth study did not test a cause tied to one app.
The 2019 cohort study measured reported time on social media and reported distress. It did not assign children to TikTok or test a particular feed. Other factors may explain some of the association. Ask the treating team to assess the child’s whole history.
Write down the account names, dates and stated age information you know. Keep any notices or requests about the child’s data.
Ask a lawyer which account history and consent records matter to the concern. Keep the original date and text of notices rather than relying on a summary of them. A privacy complaint and an injury claim may ask different questions about the same account.
Keep notes about changes in sleep, school and relationships. Seek a health assessment for lasting distress or problems with daily life.
NIMH recommends sharing your observations with a health provider and considering school information and earlier treatment. Record when changes began without assuming the feed caused them. Health records can help describe the concern; they are not a guarantee that a lawyer will accept a claim.
A study’s time group is not a legal cutoff. Ask a lawyer to check the harm, claim and proof in your case.
The Surgeon General’s review says effects depend on the child, content, interactions and disruption to other activities. The research has gaps about causal pathways. Tell a lawyer about the specific history instead of trying to fit a child into an online number of hours.
Ask what it costs to review the specific TikTok concern. A privacy inquiry and an injury claim may need different records.
Ask what work the fee agreement covers and who pays for account, consent and health records. Check what costs could remain if a claim loses. Keep the written terms with the notice so you can see which legal question the firm agreed to handle.
Keep the child’s account, notice and health dates in order. Ask a lawyer which time limit applies to the claim.
Record when the account was used, when a data concern arose and when symptoms or care began. Ask which of those dates matter under the relevant law. Confirm whether the lawyer is advising you or has agreed to represent you in a court case.
Teens spending 3+ hours daily on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms
Rates of teen depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide increased sharply beginning in 2012 — coinciding with widespread smartphone and social media adoption
Habitual social media checking in early adolescence is associated with changes in brain sensitivity to social feedback over time
The review is free and private. Asking for it doesn’t commit you to anything.
Ask a law firm to review your caseNot from the advisory alone. It discusses social media risks for youth and known evidence gaps across platforms. A lawyer can check court dockets or official settlement notices before relying on any settlement claim.
Source: U.S. Surgeon General: Social Media and Youth Mental Health Advisory · as of Oct 7, 2026
Not from the advisory alone. It says problematic social media use has been linked to self-reported and diagnosed ADHD in adolescents, but more research is needed to understand whether one causes the other. A medical provider can assess a child's symptoms.
Source: U.S. Surgeon General: Social Media and Youth Mental Health Advisory · as of Oct 7, 2026
Not from the advisory alone. It says extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content remains accessible to children and adolescents, including suicide- and self-harm-related content on social media platforms. It does not decide what any one child saw.
Source: U.S. Surgeon General: Social Media and Youth Mental Health Advisory · as of Oct 7, 2026
Checked against 11 primary sources by People's Justice editors · Updated
How we make moneyPeople's Justice research team · Updated Oct 4, 2026