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A Mother's Quest for Social Media Reform

Sep 2024 🇺🇸 Marketplace (American Public Media)

Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.

Outside the U.S.? Find your local helpline at findahelpline.com.

In this public-radio segment, Marketplace profiles Kristin Bride, whose 16-year-old son Carson died by suicide in 2020 after, in her account, receiving more than a hundred negative, harassing, and threatening anonymous messages through apps connected to Snapchat in the weeks beforehand. The segment covers Bride's legal action against the platform and her continued advocacy for federal legislation, including the Kids Online Safety Act, intended to require social platforms to build in stronger protections for minors. It situates her personal story within a broader public debate over platform accountability for youth safety design. TechKids Foundation includes this entry as a mainstream public-radio treatment of a bereaved parent's advocacy trajectory, presented in association language rather than as a diagnostic or causal claim.

100+ messages, per Bride's account

The segment reports Bride's account that Carson received over 100 negative, harassing, and threatening anonymous messages in the weeks leading up to his death.

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"A Mother's Quest for Social Media Reform." Marketplace, American Public Media, September 5, 2024.

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