Meta and Google facing US cases over youth mental health
Big names like Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and Google are facing legal heat in the US over how their platforms affect young people's mental health.
Juries in California and New Mexico recently found platform companies liable for harms to users' mental health — the California jury concluded some tools were deliberately designed to be addictive, while the New Mexico jury found that Meta violated state law and harmed children's safety and mental health.
UCSF study supports restricting infinite scroll
Meta says it plans to appeal, but research by Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), backs up the concerns, pointing out that things like endless scrolling keep young users hooked.
Experts want changes: limiting infinite scroll, better privacy settings, age checks, and fewer notifications during school or sleep hours.
Compared to stricter rules abroad (like Australia banning social media for under-16s), the US is being urged to step up protections for kids online.