Parents sue Snapchat over son’s fentanyl death
- Sammy was 16 years old when he died after ingesting a fentanyl-laced pill
- Victim's mom: Algorithm 'will start pushing our kids' toward drug dealers
- Lawsuit: Some of Snapchat's features make illegal activities hard to track
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(NewsNation) — Samuel Chapman and Laura Berman’s son, Sammy, was 16 years old and a junior in high school when he died in 2021 after overdosing on a fentanyl-laced pill.
Since their tragic loss, they’ve been on a mission to make sure other parents do not suffer the same fate.
Chapman and Berman are now among 60 parents who have filed a lawsuit against the parent company of Snapchat, alleging the social media platform enables drug dealers.
Chapman and Berman joined NewsNation’s “CUOMO” on Friday to share their story.
“It only takes a few grains of sand (worth) of fentanyl to kill you,” Berman said. “So it was actually, it’s called fentanyl poisoning. It’s murder. It’s not an overdose because he didn’t know what he was taking. And he certainly didn’t mean to take too much.”
According to Berman, Snapchat’s algorithm “will start pushing our kids toward dealers or dealers toward our kids.”
“I thought you had to know a drug dealer or find a drug dealer or know someone who knew a drug dealer. I had no idea that drug dealers are finding our kids on Snapchat and other social media.” Berman said.
The complaint alleges that Snap, Inc. knew for years that Snapchat was being used as an “open-air digital drug market.”
Some of Snapchat’s features make illegal activities harder to track and are especially attractive to drug dealers, the lawsuit alleges.
“The snaps disappear. That’s the whole basis of Snapchat,” Chapman said. “And that’s how it became sort of the dark web for kids. They thought they could operate with impunity.”
According to the lawsuit, Snap tried to ignore these issues.
“Snap and its leadership knowingly designed and distributed a product that provides tens of thousands of drug dealers with an untraceable and effective means to distribute illicit substances to our nation’s youth,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center.
A judge is now set to decide whether the lawsuit against Snap Inc. can move forward or the company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit will be granted.
Watch the interview with Samuel Chapman and Laura Berman in the video player at the top of the page.
