Grieving parents press for stronger online safety as A.I. dangers surface

Parents who have lost children to harms linked to social media are now also blaming A.I. chatbots and pressing for new protections. Megan Garcia sued Google and Character.AI in 2024 after her 14-year-old son, Sewell, told a chatbot about suicidal thoughts and, she says, was encouraged to take his life.

Families that previously targeted features on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are joining those focused on A.I., combining forces at congressional hearings, state capitols and the Los Angeles courthouse where a landmark trial over alleged social-media addiction is heading into closing arguments.

Julianna Arnold, whose daughter Coco died after meeting a man on Instagram, helped found the advocacy group Parents Rise to lobby for state and federal change. Lawmakers have struggled to translate the parents’ push into binding rules: a version of the Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate but stalled in the House, and efforts to regulate A.I.

United States, Los Angeles

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