Recent jury verdicts against major social media platforms may mark a meaningful shift in how courts and policymakers approach kids’ online safety.
Juries in California and New Mexico found Meta and Google’s YouTube liable for harms to children and teens, signaling that long-standing legal protections may no longer fully insulate platforms from scrutiny over how their products are designed and used by young audiences.
In this article for The Hill, Davis+Gilbert partner Allison Fitzpatrick weighed in on the significance of these rulings, noting that they should serve as a “wake-up call” for social media companies to rethink whether existing practices are doing enough to protect children and teens online.
While the verdicts do not mandate immediate platform changes, they could influence future litigation, regulatory pressure and how companies evaluate design features that drive engagement among younger users.