A new documentary, Can't Look Away, reveals the devastating impact of social media on teenagers, featuring parents whose children died after exposure to harmful content on platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. The film, directed by Matthew O'Neill and Perri Peltz, is based on investigative reporting by Bloomberg's Olivia Carville and follows American families suing social media companies.
In 2020, Amy Neville found her 14-year-old son Alexander dead after he took a fake oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl, bought from a dealer he met on Snapchat. She now warns other parents: 'We give our kids these smartphones... that is the equivalent of dropping them off in the worst neighbourhood.'
The documentary highlights how algorithms feed teenagers extreme content, including suicide scenarios and unwanted sexual advances. Toney and Brandy Roberts sued Meta after their 14-year-old daughter Englyn died by suicide following a mock-hanging video on Instagram. 'The social media companies know our children are vulnerable,' Brandy says.
Director O'Neill says he was shocked by the content children are exposed to: 'What young people see is so different because of the algorithms... Children are essentially entering into a hellscape.' He argues that if companies can predict consumer behaviour, they can filter harmful content from children's feeds.
The film follows cases like that of Mason Edens, 16, who killed himself after TikTok fed him suicidal content following a breakup. His mother Jennie DeSerio doesn't believe he ever searched for 'suicide'. O'Neill says such content should not be fed to children: 'I think we could all broadly agree on that as a society.'
