Common Sense Media Review
By Betsy Bozdech
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Powerful docu demands accountability for harm to teens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media
What's the Story?
CAN'T LOOK AWAY: THE CASE AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA chronicles the legal cases being brought against social media companies like Meta (Instagram, Facebook), ByteDance (TikTok), and Snap Inc. (Snapchat) for the alleged harm—sometimes fatal—that their platforms have caused vulnerable teenagers. The bulk of those cases are handled by attorney Matthew Bergman and his colleagues at Seattle's Social Media Victims Law Center, who are the first to propose holding social media companies liable as product manufacturers (akin to tobacco companies in the 1980s and '90s) rather than content providers. Directors Perri Peltz and Matthew O'Neill tell their story by mixing interviews with bereaved parents, concerned whistleblowers, and determined lawyers with footage from congressional testimony and legal proceedings and lots of sobering facts and statistics about the business—and impact—of algorithms, likes, and follows.
Is It Any Good?
Like the lawyers it features, this powerful documentary carefully and deliberately builds the argument that social media companies are preying on teens' vulnerabilities. Can't Look Away is filled with convincing, well-documented instances of both teenage tragedy and companies prioritizing profit over well-being. How can you deny the story of a brokenhearted 16-year-old who searched for comforting affirmations and instead was served up a steady stream of content about killing himself because an algorithm noticed he was lingering longer on content about the darker stuff? Or the experiences of a concerned former high-ranking Meta engineer who shared his worries about Facebook's child safety tools with the company's top executives and never got any kind of response?
It's searing, upsetting stuff. And it's one of an increasing number of films and shows that center on troubling issues related to teens and social media. The kids featured in Can't Look Away are real kids, and they really died. As you watch Bergman and his crew persist in their efforts to raise bipartisan awareness of these issues—and hold the major platforms accountable (using some pretty clever legal work to do so)—it's impossible not to worry about what your own kids might be seeing, hearing, and liking. For anyone who loves and cares for children, this is a call to action that we have to do much more than just cross our fingers that it won't be our kids who just happen to click on the wrong thing next.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about social media. How is it portrayed in Can't Look Away? Do you agree with the argument that the platforms featured here should be held accountable for their impact as product manufacturers?
How has social media changed people's lives, including your own? Is it possible to use social media safely and responsibly?
How do the lawyers and families featured in the film demonstrate perseverance?
Do you think documentaries need to be objective? Is this one? How would you describe its goal?
What are three things from the film that you related to or that struck you as notable?
Movie Details
- In theaters : April 4, 2025
- On DVD or streaming : April 4, 2025
- Directors : Matthew O'Neill , Perri Peltz
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s)
- Studio : Bloomberg
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Activism , School ( High School , Middle School )
- Character Strengths : Compassion , Perseverance
- Run time : 76 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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