In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit on social media addiction, a Los Angeles jury held Meta and Google accountable for intentionally building addictive social media platforms that harmed children and teenagers. The verdict came yesterday, after a young woman sued Meta—which owns Instagram, Facebook—and WhatsApp and Google, owner of YouTube, over her childhood addiction to social media.
Kaley from Los Angeles who sued the companies was awarded $6 million (£4.5 million) in damages, a decision that could influence hundreds of similar cases currently progressing through US courts. Meta and Google each stated they disagreed with the ruling and confirmed plans to appeal. Meta said that teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” said a Meta spokesperson.
A spokesperson for Google said: "This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site."
Snap and TikTok were also defendants in the trial. Both settled with the plaintiff before it began, and terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
It is important to note that the LA verdict was delivered just a day after a jury in New Mexico ruled that Meta was liable for how its platforms put children at risk, exposing them to sexually explicit content and interactions with sexual predators. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages. According to media reports, beyond the California state court cases, more than 2,400 lawsuits making similar allegations against Meta and other social media platforms have been consolidated in a federal court in California.
Around the same time as these updates from the US, the UK is also coming up with a plan to curb social media exposure for children. Yesterday, Britain announced that it will bring out a programme to test social media bans, curfews and app time limits to see how they impact children's sleep, family life and schoolwork.
Earlier this month, in India, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a ban on social media use for children under the age of 16 during the Karnataka Budget 2026-27 speech. The announcement made Karnataka the first Indian state to take the plunge on the topic. "With the objective of preventing adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children, usage of social media will be banned for children under the age of 16," said Siddaramaiah.
The announcement came after Australia became the first country to bring such a ban into effect in December last year, and after French President Emanuel Macron’s request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “join the club” of nations moving toward stricter age-based regulations, at the AI Impact Summit in India.
In January, Goa's IT minister indicated that the government was examining the possibility of restricting social media access for minors in the state. During the same month, in Andhra Pradesh, a legislator introduced a proposal aimed at regulating or curbing social media use among children, reflecting a broader trend among Indian states to address concerns about the impact of digital platforms on young users.
Several European countries are also moving toward tighter regulation of young people’s access to social media. Denmark has announced plans to introduce a ban on social media use for children under the age of 15, while Norway is currently considering a similar proposal as part of a broader push to strengthen online protections for minors.
In France, a parliamentary inquiry examining the effects of digital platforms on children has recommended prohibiting social media access for users under 15. The inquiry also proposed introducing a “social media curfew” for teenagers aged 15 to 18, which would restrict access during certain late-night hours in an effort to address concerns around sleep disruption, mental health and online harms.
Spain is pursuing a slightly different approach. The Spanish government has drafted a legislation that would require under-16s to obtain explicit authorisation from a parent or legal guardian before creating or accessing social media accounts, effectively placing responsibility on families while still tightening platform oversight.
First Published: Mar 26, 2026, 14:39
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