TICK TOCK DIE –
Feb. 6, 2026 – ANNALEE SCHOTT USED to live in rural Colorado where the farm, the barn, and the horses were her happy place. But online she was drawn into a dark world. The 18-year-old’s TikTok algorithm allegedly presented her with content—including a live suicide on her For You page… In 2020, Annalee died by suicide. Six years later, Lori is one of the approximately 1,600 plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits from all over the country alleging that Meta, Snap, TikTok, and YouTube built addictive products which led the children to depression, self-harm, and other mental health issues. The cases have been filed by over 350 families and 250 school districts. The first of them—that of a 20-year-old woman who goes by the identifier K.G.M.— is expected to go to trial next week, with opening statements scheduled in front of a jury in Los Angeles. The trial may last six to eight weeks.
“It is a time that we have all been fighting for, and it’s a time that is owed to us to get answers from these companies on how they designed these platforms to addict our kids,” Schott told WIRED, echoing what is alleged in these lawsuits. “This trial isn’t just about Annalee. It’s about every child that was lost or harmed, and these companies knew the decisions they made put our kids’ lives at risk every single day.”
