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Erin Popolo,New Jersey <br /> Erin's daughter, Emily Murillo, was a special education student who was bullied in person for <br /> most of her school career. During the pandemic shutdown, the bullies continued to reach out to <br /> her via Snapchat and Instagram. At 17 years old Emily lost hope that she would ever be viewed <br /> as `normal' by her peers and died by suicide in January of 2021. The bullying continued as <br /> hackers hijacked Emily's Zoomed funeral, sending cruel messages, and posting inappropriate <br /> images on the Zoom for all of Emily's mourning family to see, until they finally had to stop the <br /> funeral. <br /> Despina Prodromidis,New York <br /> Despina's daughter Olivia died at 15 years old after meeting an adult stranger over Snapchat—a <br /> common problem across platforms who introduce kids to adult strangers to keep them engaged <br /> and online. This man gave her a drug which turned out to be pure fentanyl. <br /> Neveen Radwan, California <br /> Neveen's 15-year-old daughter, Mariam, was an avid user of several social media platforms at <br /> the time of her anorexia diagnosis. These apps constantly bombarded her with "pro-ano" (pro- <br /> anorexia) content. The algorithms targeted her with"skinny challenges" and manipulated content <br /> that triggered her illness to an all-time high. She then embarked on a life-threatening journey of <br /> over 2 years, in multiple hospitals, and almost dying multiple times. <br /> Mary Rodee,New York <br /> Mary's son, Riley, died by suicide at 15 years old. He was sextorted on Facebook by an adult <br /> who pretended to be a teenage girl and then threatened to release compromising images of Riley <br /> unless he gave them thousands of dollars. Riley, ashamed and frightened, died just six hours after <br /> the contact began. Facebook never responded when Mary and Riley's father reported the <br /> incident. <br /> Judy Rogg, California <br /> Judy's son, Erik Robinson, died at 12 years old after participating in the "choking challenge"that <br /> was and continues to be widely circulated on YouTube. Erik rarely used YouTube—he heard <br /> about the challenge from a friend who did, a sadly common pattern that shows even children <br /> whose parents don't allow them access to social media are vulnerable to its harms. Investigators <br /> determined that Erik died from this just the day after he learned about it. He had no idea that this <br /> could cause harm or death. <br /> Deb Schmill,Massachusetts <br /> Deb's daughter, Becca, died at 18 years old of fentanyl poisoning from drugs she and a friend <br /> purchased from a dealer they found on Snapchat. Becca was sexually assaulted at 15 by a boy <br /> she'd met on social media and, shortly after the assault, her peers started cyberbullying her by <br /> text and over Snapchat. Becca turned to drugs to help ease the pain and was unaware the drugs <br /> she bought over Snapchat—a massive, nearly untraceable drug market thanks to the platform's <br /> design—contained fentanyl. <br /> 7 <br />