What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court
TL;DR
Parents grieving children lost to online harms waited anxiously outside a courtroom, using symbolic butterfly clips to honor their kids while hoping to hold social media companies accountable.
Around a dozen parents huddled in the dim hallway outside the courtroom in February, nervously gripping paper tickets. They were glaring at a gray tote bag held by a member of the court staff - the one who'd determine, by lottery, if they made it inside. Pinned on bags and coats, butterfly clips honored children they'd lost, deaths these parents link to their children's experiences online. The clips were a symbolic gesture chosen to not inadvertently prejudice the jury, which would decide if social media companies could be held liable for the kinds of harms they believe their children experienced. If the number on a parent's ticket came up, …