Matthew P. Bergman: “He loved his car. He loved music. He loved Rock and Roll
Interviewer: “by all accounts a typical teenage boy?”
Matthew P. Bergman: “Yep, overslept like teenage boys do, played his music too loud. Yeah, all the stuff teenage boys do.”
Interviewer: “What changed?”
Matthew P. Bergman: “Well, what changed was that he became addicted to social media”
Interviewer: “and according to the family’s attorney, that addiction led Christopher Dowley down a dark path. His suicide note reads, “It’s hard to be a person right now.” His family blames social media.
Matthew P. Bergman: “and they can’t get away from bad conduct.”
Interviewer: CJ spent hours on Facebook and Instagram, allegedly becoming obsessed with his body image. In the lawsuit, they cite the United States Surgeon General advisory from December 2021, which says between 2007 and 2018 suicide rates among youth ages 12 to 16 in the US increased a staggering 146%. The lawsuit also mentions other studies which suggest the heavy use of social media causes depression, suicidal ideation, and sleep deprivation among teenagers.
Interviewer: Do you think without social media CJ would still be alive today?
Matthew P. Bergman: “Yes, I did.”
Interviewer: The Ohastosha Central High School student who loved his family, his car, and being outdoors died by suicide in 2015.
Interviewer: The family attorney says they want social media platforms to be held accountable for the dangers they present to minors.
Legally Edited and Fact-Checked by:
Matthew P. Bergman, Founding Attorney, SMVLC
