Social media companies getting large fines for treatment of children and teens; UK House of Lords votes for kid's ban on social media again

 

Meta and Google fined for causing child addiction

The verdict comes after Facebook’s parent company was ordered to pay $375 million for profiting from exposing youngsters to online abuse

Published 26 Mar, 2026 15:45 | Updated 26 Mar, 2026 16:50

©  Getty Images/FG Trade Latin

A jury in California found Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for $6 million in damages on Wednesday in a landmark lawsuit in which the social media giants were accused of being legally responsible for the addictive design of their platforms.

Major US tech companies have faced increasing scrutiny over child and teen safety over the past decade, a debate that has now moved into courts and state legislatures. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization that tracks state laws, at least 20 states enacted laws on social media usage and children in 2025.

A jury ordered Meta to pay $4.2 million and Google $1.8 million in a lawsuit by a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley, who said she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram as a minor due to features – such as infinite scrolling – which encourage prolonged engagement. Of the total award, about $3 million is compensation to the plaintiff, while the remainder represents punitive damages.

Both tech giants said they disagree with the ruling, and announced plans to appeal. TikTok and Snap were also named as defendants in the case, but managed to settle before the trial began.

READ MORE: Facebook and Instagram owner enabled child sexual exploitation

On Tuesday, a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta Platforms, which runs Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, to pay $375 million for knowingly harming children’s mental health and concealing evidence of child sexual exploitation, saying its personalized algorithms could also aid pedophiles.

A separate social media addiction case brought by several states and school districts against major technology companies is expected to go to trial this summer in federal court in Oakland, California. Another state trial is scheduled to begin in July in Los Angeles and will involve Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Globally, Meta Platforms faces growing regulatory pressure, having been labeled an “extremist organization” in Russia in 2022 and targeted by multiple European Union actions, including a €797 million ($940 million) antitrust fine and other copyright, data-protection and advertising cases across Europe.

Amid growing concerns over child safety online, countries including Australia, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, the UK, Indonesia, and Malaysia are restricting or considering limits on social media access for children and teens.

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Britain's House of Lords votes for under-16s social media ban again

By Paul Godfrey

   

Britain's House of Lords voted Thursday to try to force through a social media ban for children only two weeks after lawmakers in the lower house overturned a previous attempt. Photo by Pixelkult/Pixabay

March 26 (UPI) -- Britain's House of Lords revived an effort to ban children younger than 16 from using social media, only two weeks after the House of Commons voted to override a previous bid by the upper chamber of Parliament.

In a 266-141 vote early Thursday, peers backed former Conservative education minister Lord John Nash's amendment to the Labour government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill for a second time after MPs defeated it in favor of a 3-month public consultation and bounced the legislation back to the Lords.

"Delay has consequences," Nash said in a statement after the vote.

"Tonight the House of Lords sent for the second time an unambiguous message to the government: hollow promises and half-measures are not enough. That they voted in even greater numbers than before sends a very clear message to the government that they must act now to raise the age limit for access to harmful social media sites to 16," he added.

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