Families Are Experiencing the Harm of Social Media. The World Is Fighting Back

Substack
Written by Kacy Zurkus

And what parents can do to protect their kids

As a landmark trial unfolds in a Los Angeles courtroom and a disturbing kidnapping case exposes the dangers lurking inside children’s gaming platforms, the message from digital safety advocates is louder than ever: social media and online platforms are causing real harm to thousands of families, but the world is mobilizing to protect children in cyberspace.

Digital safety advocate Nicki Petrossi recently appeared on Fox News’ The Story to break down social media giants’ legal arguments in the landmark trial, sharing a message that parents everywhere need to hear.

A former social media marketing executive turned reform advocate, Petrossi has been closely following the trial, using her popular podcast Scrolling 2 Death to build a community and raise awareness. In building her advocacy organizations, the Tech-Safe Learning Coalition and the S2D Foundation, she has spent years translating complex internal tech company research into language parents can understand and act on.

Big Tech’s Day in Court

Opening statements began on February 10, 2026 in what legal experts are calling the most consequential technology trial in a generation. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, and Google’s YouTube are facing a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court over allegations that they deliberately engineered their platforms to be addictive to young users. In his opening statements for the plaintiffs, attorney Mark Lainer argued “For a teenager, social validation is survival,” Lanier said. The defendants “engineered a feature that caters to a minor’s craving for social validation,” he added, speaking about “like” buttons and similar features.”

The trial is a bellwether case (selected from approximately 1,600 similar lawsuits) filed by plaintiffs across the country, and the case centers on a plaintiff identified as K.G.M., a now-20-year-old woman who alleges that her use of Instagram and YouTube from childhood led to anxiety, body dysmorphia, and suicidal thoughts. Her story is not an anomaly, but the hope is that its outcome will set a legal precedent that reverberates through courtrooms for years to come.

The Big Tobacco Playbook

Lanier opened the trial by stacking children’s toy blocks spelling “A-B-C” before the jury, telling them the case was about “addicting the brains of children.” He drew direct comparisons to the Big Tobacco trials of the 1990s, as Michael Calderone wrote for The Wrap. The argument implies that like cigarette makers who knowingly produced addictive products, social media companies hooked young people on platforms they understood to be harmful.

Internal company documents presented during the trial have been damning, with plaintiffs citing a YouTube memo stating that “the goal is viewer addiction” and internal Instagram communications where employees described themselves as “basically pushers.” An internal Meta study called “Project Myst” allegedly found that children who had experienced adverse effects were actually more likely to become addicted to Instagram and that parents were powerless to stop it.

US Legislative Momentum

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was reintroduced in the 119th Congress in May 2025 with bipartisan support from Senate leadership. In December 2025, a House subcommittee advanced 18 child online safety bills in a single session, including updates to COPPA, proposals to ban social media accounts for children under 16, and requirements for app stores to verify users’ ages. A wave of new federal digital media bills hit Congress in early 2026, signaling that momentum is only growing.

More than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta over youth safety concerns. A separate federal bellwether trial is scheduled for June 2026 in Oakland, focusing on claims brought by school districts.

The World Is Taking Action

What makes this moment different from years past is that the fight to protect children online is no longer confined to individual lawsuits or national debates. A genuinely global movement is taking shape, with governments, international organizations, and advocates pushing for systemic change from multiple directions.

One of the most significant international developments has come from Saudi Arabia. In October 2024, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the “Child Protection in Cyberspace” (CPC) global initiative, aimed at unifying international efforts to address the growing threats children face online. The initiative, implemented through the Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF) Foundation, established by royal order in 2023 as an independent institution with a global mandate, is showing concrete progress.

In July 2025, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Kuwait, Algeria, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam focused on protecting children in cyberspace. The call for enhanced global cooperation also aims to share best practices and develop the skills necessary to create a safe digital environment for children worldwide.

Australia became the first country in the world to enact a comprehensive ban on social media for children under 16, with the law taking full effect in December 2025. Under the Online Safety Amendment Act, platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Reddit, Twitch, Kick, and Threads face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars (approximately $33 million USD) if they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent underage users from holding accounts.

Within the first weeks of enforcement, social media companies revoked access to approximately 4.7 million accounts belonging to children under 16, and Meta removed nearly 550,000 accounts within days. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant acknowledged that some children have found workarounds, but emphasized that the goal is harm reduction and resetting cultural norms, much like seatbelt laws or speed limits.

The Australian model has inspired action around the world with France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, and several Indian states considering similar age restrictions. The European Commission, the UK’s Ofcom, and Australia’s eSafety Commissioner have committed to collaborating throughout 2026 on best practices for implementing age assurance measures globally.

What Parents Can Do Right Now

While the legal and legislative battles play out, families don’t have to wait. Here are practical steps and resources parents can use today:

Secure Your Child’s Devices and Accounts

  • Lock down chat features on gaming platforms like Roblox. Disable direct messaging and voice chat, and use the strictest privacy settings available.

  • Review app permissions and privacy settings across every platform your child uses. Default settings are rarely the safest options.

  • Use parental control tools the built-in controls on iOS (Screen Time) and Android (Family Link) to monitor app usage, set time limits, and receive alerts.

  • Monitor for platform-hopping. The shift from a semi-public platform to a private messaging app is often a turning point in grooming cases. Know which apps are on your child’s device.

Know the Warning Signs of Grooming

  • Unexpected gifts, deliveries, or online purchases arriving at your home

  • Secrecy about online friendships or a sudden reluctance to share what they’re doing online

  • Contact from someone outside your child’s normal geographic or social circle

  • Urgency, excessive flattery, or requests to keep the relationship private

  • Conversations moving from public platforms to private messaging apps

Have Ongoing, Honest Conversations

  • Talk with your children early and often about online safety. Experts say children need age-appropriate frameworks for understanding manipulation, exploitation, and the difference between online friendships and real-world trust.

  • Frame conversations around empowerment, not fear. Help your child develop an internal compass for recognizing when something feels wrong online.

  • Create a family culture where children feel safe reporting uncomfortable interactions without fear of losing device access.

Engage with Advocacy and Stay Informed

Support Legislation

  • Contact your elected representatives to voice support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and related child safety legislation.

  • Follow advocacy organizations for updates on how to participate in public comment periods, hearings, and grassroots campaigns.

  • Share what you learn with other parents. As Petrossi emphasizes, the most effective change starts with informed communities demanding better from both tech companies and lawmakers.

The Road Ahead

Whether or not this particular jury finds Meta and YouTube liable, the trial has put the internal workings of the world’s largest tech companies on public display in a way that press releases and congressional hearings never could. Internal documents, employee communications, and executive testimony are now part of the public record, and they paint a picture that is difficult for the industry to spin.

Combined with cases like the Roblox kidnapping, international initiatives like Saudi Arabia’s Child Protection in Cyberspace program, and Australia’s world-first social media ban, these events make clear that the fight to protect children online has gone global.

For advocates like Petrossi, the message to parents is clear and urgent: This fight is far from over, and every family is at risk until the defaults change. Safety needs to be built into these platforms from the ground up, not bolted on as an afterthought after the damage is done.

As Petrossi has said, we need to learn the stories of families who have been harmed and act like every family is at risk.

Kacy Zurkus https://www.kacyzurkus.com
Previous

Why Every Writer Needs a Writing Group
Next

The Double-Edged Sword: The Real Challenges of Teaching with Technology