April is both Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month. At C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, we know firsthand just how much these issues overlap – especially considering Big Tech’s role. Every day, we see the various ways people are harmed by recklessly designed products that facilitate, perpetuate, and amplify sexual violence, for both children and adults.
C.A. Goldberg is the country’s first law firm dedicated to justice for survivors catastrophically injured by inhumane tech platforms, and the perpetrators who use them to target their victims.
The tech industry thinks it’s immune from responsibility for the acts of individual users, using Section 230 as a get-out-of-jail free card. But we’ve made it our mission to stand up to tech behemoths on behalf of our clients, pioneering novel legal strategy, using product liability law, to hold tech companies accountable for creating dangerous products. Social media and dating apps are products. They are coded and designed by people who have the power to make these products safer or more dangerous.
To date, we’ve brought claims against nearly every mainstream social media company. Here are three of our cases that highlight several ways in which tech giants facilitate sexual assault and child abuse:
1. A.M. v.Omegle
Omegle was a video chat platform that paired random strangers together in a private 1-on-1 chat. The minimum age to participate was 13, and predictably, Omegle became a hunting ground for predators, frequently pairing children with adults in these private sessions. Our client, A.M., was only 11 years old when she was matched with an adult man who gained her trust, then blackmailed her into sexual servitude, exploiting her for years.
Our lawsuit created groundbreaking case law, overcoming outdated protections for purveyors of services like Omegle because we were able to argue that Omegle directly profited from sex trafficking and abuse. We eventually settled the case when Omegle agreed to shut down – forever.
The final words on Omegle’s now-shuttered site read:
“I thank A.M. for opening my eyes to the human toll of Omegle.”
2. Jane Does v. Match Group
We represent a group of women who were drugged and/or sexually assaulted by a man named Dr. Stephen Matthews, a cardiologist in Colorado. Matthews created multiple profiles on Tinder and Hinge to find his victims.
In September of 2020, one victim reported to Match Group, which owns and operates both platforms, that she was drugged and raped by Matthews. Match Group assured her that Matthews was permanently banned from the platform, only to match the survivor with Matthews again only a few months later. She reported him again, and despite their reassurances, Match Group continued to allow him to use their products to facilitate his raping spree. It was only after a victim reported to the police that Matthews was finally off the platforms for good – he was sentenced to 158 years to life in prison for his egregious crimes.
Match Group, however, faced no liability. Despite being very aware of the defects in its products that not only allows rapists, but welcomes them, they continue to operate with impunity. We refuse to accept that. We filed our lawsuit with co-counsel Gerash Steiner P.C., Dormer Harpring, McDermott Legal, and Shafner Law in December 2026. Match Group has long operated as though it’s the “cost of business” that some of its members will be rapists and some members will get raped. But being drugged and sexually assaulted, encountering a serial rapist…these catastrophic harms should not be the cost of seeking a romantic or sexual connection online.
Victims of Stephen Matthews (or other offenders on dating apps) are encouraged to reach out to us at (646) 666-8908 or contact us here to set up an intake call.
3. Taylor Family v. Discord
Discord is a popular social media platform used by millions of people to connect with each other over shared interests. It is especially popular among children.
Because of Discord’s “hands-off” approach to moderation, it became the birthplace and home of 764, a sadistic cult targeting vulnerable children struggling with their mental health. Members of 764 exploit and abuse these victims, encouraging each other to push kids to suicide. There are over 1,300 known reports about 764 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Our suit centers around Discord’s role in the death of children. Our clients’ son, Jay Taylor, was only 13 years old when he joined Discord, hoping to find like-minded friends as a Trans teen. Within hours, Jay was manipulated by 764 members to livestream his own suicide. To this day, 764 uses the video of Jay’s death to advertise to new members.
We filed our lawsuit against Discord in February 2026. Discord has made a business model of marketing to children and then letting them get abused, and Discord will not get away with it.
Sexual assault and child abuse are not new issues. But dangerously designed tech products create new avenues for the most heinous predators to find victims and spread harm. The tech industry has largely evaded liability up until now, but we’re seeing that start to change.
Judgment day for Big Tech has only just begun.
If you have been the victim of a crime facilitated by a tech/social media platform or dating app, you can reach out to C.A. Goldberg here, or visit our resources page for more information.
