{"id":895644,"date":"2026-03-30T07:36:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/now-we-have-the-proof-safety-advocates-hope-a-landmark-jury-ruling-could-lead-to-social-media-changes\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T07:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:36:36","slug":"now-we-have-the-proof-safety-advocates-hope-a-landmark-jury-ruling-could-lead-to-social-media-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/now-we-have-the-proof-safety-advocates-hope-a-landmark-jury-ruling-could-lead-to-social-media-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Now we have the proof\u2019: Safety advocates hope a landmark jury ruling could lead to social media changes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New York<\/span>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span> <\/cite><\/p>\n

Online safety advocates hope landmark trial verdicts this week can bring change to social media platforms they have warned about for years, after juries found Meta (and YouTube in one case) responsible for harms to kids and teens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been telling our stories forever and people say, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s horrible,\u2019 but we haven\u2019t seen any action,\u201d Julianna Arnold told CNN\u2019s Elex Michaelson on Thursday. Arnold founded the advocacy organization Parents RISE! following the death of her daughter Coco, for which she blames Instagram<\/a>. \u201cNow we have the proof to back up and validate the stories we\u2019ve been telling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trials represented the first times legal panels of regular Americans passed judgment on the safety of social media for young people, and they saw enough to concern them.<\/p>\n

A New Mexico jury on Wednesday found Meta liable<\/a> in a case accusing it of creating a \u201cbreeding ground\u201d for child predators. A day later, a California jury found<\/a> Meta and YouTube knowingly designed addictive platforms, failed to warn parents and users of the risks and harmed a young woman\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

Though the damages awarded in each case were tiny compared to Meta and Google\u2019s valuations, the companies face hundreds more cases; <\/a>repeated losses could lead to billions in penalties and required changes to their platforms.<\/p>\n

Meta and Google said they plan to appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app,\u201d a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles case \u201cmisunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site,\u201d Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.<\/p>\n

Social platforms also contend they\u2019ve already invested heavily in safety measures and features, such as parental oversight tools, \u201ctake a break\u201d reminders and default privacy settings and content restrictions for teens.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what more online safety advocates would like to see the social media platforms change.<\/p>\n

Frequent nudges and notifications<\/h2>\n

Kaley, the plaintiff in the Los Angeles trial, testified that she once turned off YouTube notifications but quickly felt she could be missing out on what people were saying about her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see what people were saying or who was liking my video,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Some platforms, including YouTube, have already added \u201cbedtime\u201d limits on notifications and control tools for parents to limit the time their kids spend on the apps. But advocates say they\u2019d like to do away entirely with those little nudges that encourage frequent use \u2014 at least for young users.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat includes Snapchat\u2019s \u2018Snap Streak,\u2019\u201d Nicki Petrossi, host of the podcast Scrolling 2 Death. That Snapchat feature gives users a score that grows every day they exchange a message or photo with friends but returns to zero if they break the streak. \u201cAll of these different little functions do a lot to keep kids coming back every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snapchat previously told<\/a> CNN in a statement that \u201cthe safety and well-being of our community is a top priority\u201d and that the company has built safeguards \u201cthat support the safety, privacy, and well-being of all Snapchatters.\u201d (Snap was a defendant in the LA suit but settled before trial.)<\/p>\n

Experts have also called on the social media companies to share more information about the data that they collect on users and how that guides their content recommendations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to know more about what the algorithms are doing,\u201d social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of \u201cThe Anxious Generation,\u201d<\/a> told CNN.<\/p>\n

Videos that automatically start playing as soon as a user opens an app like Instagram or TikTok can also suck in users as soon as they open the platform, Haidt said. The feature has been cited in Kaley\u2019s and other lawsuits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAutoplay seems to make things super addictive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some parents and advocates say they wish users\u2019 feeds would simply end at some point, instead of allowing endless scrolling through algorithm-promoted content.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there is a way to design social media that is so different from anything that we\u2019re all experiencing now,\u201d said Sarah Gardner, founder and CEO of the advocacy organization Heat Initiative. \u201cIt really actually models Facebook (around) 2008 where were just using it as almost a messaging board to connect with people locally to go out and do things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnold said Wednesday she\u2019s already looking forward to returning to Capitol Hill to push for more comprehensive online safety legislation \u2014 something lawmakers have talked about for years but haven\u2019t passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to see legislation passed that forces these companies to design their products with a duty of care to keep our kids safe, like we do with all the other products we have in this country,\u201d Arnold said.<\/p>\n

Senators Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, have pushed a bill called the Kids Online Safety Act. It would require platforms to exercise \u201creasonable care\u201d to prevent harms such as mental health disorders, and to protect minors\u2019 data and offer parental control tools. Some critics have raised privacy and free expression concerns, and this year lawmakers have been at odds<\/a> after House Republicans introduced a version of the bill with fewer protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis verdict is the beginning of real justice for parents across the country that have suffered and faced heartbreaking loss from Big Tech\u2019s greed,\u201d Blumenthal said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Some advocates would like to see American lawmakers follow Australia\u2019s lead<\/a> in restricting access to social media for kids under the age of 16, although others say age verification raises privacy concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you listen to young people and parents, they\u2019ll tell you the status quo doesn\u2019t work,\u201d said Sacha Haworth, executive director of watchdog group the Tech Oversight Project.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Online safety advocates hope landmark trial verdicts this week can bring change to social media platforms they have warned about for years, after juries found Meta (and YouTube in one case) responsible for harms to kids and teens. \u201cWe\u2019ve been telling our stories forever and people say, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s horrible,\u2019 but we haven\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":895645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38444,2461,104640],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-895644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-now","category-proof","category-youtube-videos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}