California lawmakers want to make social media safer for young people. Can they finally succeed?

Samuel Chapman had no idea that drug dealers targeted teens on Snapchat until his 16-year-old son died from a fentanyl overdose.

"We thought it was like a playground for kids and didn't think of it, as I do now, as the dark web for kids," the Los Angeles resident said.

In 2021, a drug dealer reached out to his son, Sammy, on the disappearing messaging app and showed the teen a "colorful drug menu" that offered cocaine, Chapman said. After he and his wife fell asleep, the dealer delivered drugs to their house "like a pizza." Sammy unknowingly took fentanyl and died in his bedroom.

For parents like Chapman, the horrific ordeal underscored social media's dangerous side. Tech platforms help people keep in touch with family and friends, but they also attract drug dealers, pedophiles and other predators. Plus, social media algorithms can steer young people to posts that could trigger eating disorders or self-harm.

Efforts by California lawmakers to crack down on social media's potential harms stalled in the, and its deep pockets to block another by filing a after it was signed into law.