Verdicts against Meta, YouTube spur new momentum for kids online safety push

Back-to-back verdicts against Meta and Google’s YouTube sent a warning shot to Big Tech this week, marking the first time juries found the social media platforms liable for their impact on kids and teens online. 

As Congress remains at a stalemate over how to regulate platforms and protect children online, legal and technology experts say the jury verdicts could offer new momentum for kids’ online safety and related litigation across the country. 

“This verdict should be a wake-up call to social media platforms that the status quo is no longer sufficient, and steps need to be taken to make sure children and teens are protected online, including on social media platforms,” Allison Fitzpatrick, partner at Davis Gilbert advertising and marketing law firm, said Wednesday. 

The jury verdicts in California and New Mexico come after a years-long push from youth safety groups and parents, which have separately lobbied on Capitol Hill to pass legislation holding technology companies accountable for the dangers they believe their platforms pose to kids. 

In California, a jury determined Meta and YouTube were negligent in their design or operation of the platforms and ordered the companies to pay a combined $6 million to plaintiffs.

The case, brought by a 20-year-old named K.G.M., consolidated thousands of lawsuits brought by individuals, school districts and states against multiple social media companies. Lawyers said K.G.M. became addicted to the platforms, prompting or worsening mental health issues. 

A day earlier, a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable for compromising children’s safety online and violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act, which prohibits unfair, deceptive and misleading business ventures across the state. The jury awarded $375 million in damages.

The future of kids online safety 

The verdicts do not require Meta or Google to immediately change their platforms’ design or operations, but advocates hope they will push social media companies to rethink the platforms’ more addictive qualities that keep children on screens for hours. 

“This is not about that content, but really about the way that these platforms are using these addictive design features to engage kids and teens for longer on the platform,” Holly Grosshans, senior counsel for tech policy at the kids safety nonprofit Common Sense Media, told The Hill Thursday. 

In 2025, Common Sense Media found children ages 8 and under spend an average of two-and-a-half hours a day with screen media. By age 2, 40........

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