Dr. Laura Berman Celebrates the Introduction of Sammy’s Law to Congress
By Movieguide® Contributor
Dr. Laura Berman celebrated the introduction of Sammy’s Law to Congress in honor of her son who died from a drug overdose after purchasing pills laced with fentanyl on Snapchat.
The law would require platforms with minors on them to allow third-party sources to monitor children’s social media accounts and warn parents of concerning behavior.
“I had no idea that drug dealers were reaching out to my son, accessing my son and connecting with my son through Snapchat,” Berman told ABC News in an interview. “We’re doing this to save other children from Sammy’s fate and to save other families from the devastation that we have to live with every day.”
Sammy “died from a fentanyl-laced drug obtained on social media on February 7, 2021, and delivered to his home ‘like a pizza,'” Fox 11 reported.
“There can’t be justice for our 16-year-old child being murdered,” she added. “There is no justice that will make that OK. If we could change the laws, or we could somehow convince social media to do the right thing, then…I will feel the closest thing to justice that I probably can feel.”
The bill was introduced to Congress last week by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz with support from Democrats and Republicans.
“The very technology that we have in our homes and our pockets today may be part of the problem. But with this bill, we’re trying to bring these devices in as part of the solution. And I’m proud to be part of that bipartisan solution,” Wasserman Schultz said.
The Sammy Law is one of many pushes by lawmakers to make social media safer for young users. Earlier this month, 41 states and the District of Colombia sued Meta for making its product too addictive for young users. This lawsuit blamed Meta for the sharp rise in mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, which has ravaged the younger generation.
Movieguide® previously reported:
A recent court document revealed that Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, intentionally designed its platforms to hook kids and teens.
“Company documents cited in the complaint described several Meta officials acknowledging the company designed its products to exploit shortcomings in youthful psychology such as impulsive behavior, susceptibility to peer pressure and the underestimation of risks,” the Associated Press reported.
According to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Meta received millions of warnings and complaints about minors on Instagram. Even though the amount of underage users was an “open secret,” Meta only disabled some of those accounts.
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