‘Social media addiction trial is historic – phones for kids should now be banned’
Parents are demanding social media platforms be banned for children under 16 after a landmark addiction ruling against Meta and Google.
On Wednesday, the tech giants were found liable in a Los Angeles court for a woman’s addiction to Instagram and YouTube, which began when she was a child.
Jurors concluded that both companies knew their services posed a danger to minors and ordered them to pay $3million (£2.25million) in damages.
Both of the companies said they didn’t agree with the verdict and are appealing.
British parents and campaigners have told Metro the ruling was a ‘wake up call’ for the government to take action on social media and predict it will trigger a ‘tsunami’ of similar cases in the UK.
George Nicolaou’s son Christoforos was 15 when he took his own life in March 2022, following weeks of torment and blackmail on a dark web forum.
At the same time as the Los Angeles’ ruling came in, George was in the House of Lords watching on as Peers defied the government to call for a ban for under-16s from social media platforms.
The dad told Metro: ‘The ruling is a wake-up call for the UK to make changes.
‘Hopefully the government can knock some sense into themselves and see the dangers social media is having on children’s lives.’
Christoforos – a promising teenager with an IQ of 140 – died just 50 days after he began receiving threatening and disturbing messages after clicking a pop-up link that appeared while he was playing video games.
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His parents now campaign in schools with the Christoforos Charity Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers of social media for children.
George said: ‘Every day children’s lives are being lost with the harmful algorithms on these platforms.
‘Social media is absolutely addictive. Children’s brains are innocent and absorb anything and everything that comes their way. Of course they are going to be harmed.’
‘Children’s brains are innocent and absorb anything and everything that comes their way’
The government has so far opposed attempts to ban social media platforms for children under 16, which has already been introduced in Australia.
Instead ministers say they want time to consult on the proposals while hundreds of teenagers take part in a trial of social media bans, time limits and curfews.
Campaigner Hannah Oertel insists that the evidence of the damage social media apps are causing to young people is clear already.
The mum-of-two, who is the founder of the campaign group Delay Smartphones, said: ‘Children are growing up having no delayed gratification.
‘It is affecting their focus, attention, relationships, and their ability to self-regulating their emotions.’
The US court case yesterday involved involved a 20-year-old woman, identified only as Kaley, who said she became addicted to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design.
She told jurors that her near-constant social media use ‘really affected my self-worth’, saying the apps led her to abandon her hobbies, struggle to make friends and constantly measure herself against others.
A jury found the tech giants were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers.
Hannah said the ruling had finally held to account companies who ‘have been hiding for far too long’.
She added: ‘This is the very beginning of justice against these companies.
‘We have been begging them to make their platform safe for children. The only way we can get them to change is by affecting their bottom line.’
How much time do children spent on their phones?
Three-quarters of nine-month-old babies in England are allowed daily screen time, according to an Education Policy Institute survey.
By the time toddlers are between three and four years old, one in five already have their own mobile phone, according to Ofcom research.
By age twelve, almost all children have their own mobile phone.
A National Parent Survey by Parentkind in 2024 revealed:
- Four to five-year-olds have an average screen time of 1 hour 30 minutes on their phones.
- Six to seven-year-olds have an average screen time of 2 hours.
- Eight to nine-year-olds have an average screen time of 2 hours 40 minutes
- Ten to 11-year-olds have an average screen time of 3 hours 30 minutes
Mum Clare Fernyhough agreed that the judgement was a ‘turning point’ that will ‘open the floodgates’ for more people to take action against tech companies.
The campaigner co-founded Smartphone Free Childhood in February 2024, after a WhatsApp group she created with her friend to discuss how to protect their children went viral.
She said the government is not doing enough to protect young people from the addictive design behind social media.
Clare has called on ministers to immediately endorse a ban on the platforms for under-16-year-olds when the Commons votes again on the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Like other parents who spoke to Metro, Clare also called for a ban on smartphones in school.
She set up Generation Focus with mums Miriam Turner and Charlotte Ashton to campaign to make every school smartphone-free.
Clare said: ‘I work with hundreds of headteachers on a daily basis.
‘They say children are turning up at school so wired from watching screens.
‘It is hard to teach them because their brains are primed for quick dopamine hits.
‘We see children who are simply unable to focus or to read a book.’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said today that he is ‘very keen’ for the government to tackle addictive features within social media and said the ‘status quo isn’t good enough’.
‘Big tech had made it incredibly addictive’
Earlier this year the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), a body which represents 23 medical royal colleges and faculties, warned of growing evidence of ‘health harms’ from tech on young people in the UK.
Dr Susie Davies said the answer is not just taking social media away from children, but replacing it with ‘youth clubs and extracurricular activities’.
The GP set up Parents Against Phone Addiction in Young Adults in 2018 to support families in handling phone use among young people.
She said a child or teenager comes into her surgery every day with a mental health problem linked with social media use.
The mum of three teenagers said that while she had raised her kids with limited smartphone access, there could be a ‘tsunami’ of follow-up lawsuits from other young people addicted to social media.
‘Tech companies are finally being held accountable after years of being seemingly untouchable for the content on their platforms,’ she told Metro.
Susie, who said she was delighted with the ruling, added: ‘The state of social media apps means it is just not safe for our young people.
‘It is damaging their well-being. It is very, very hard for them to stop. It is not young people’s fault. Big tech had made it incredibly addictive.’
What have Meta and Google said?
A Meta spokesperson said: ‘We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal.
‘Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app.
‘We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.’
A Google spokesperson said: ‘We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal. This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.’
A DSIT spokesperson said: ‘This is a matter for the US courts. However, we remain completely committed to giving children here in the UK the enriching childhoods they deserve.
‘That’s why we launched a consultation on bold measures to protect children online looking at everything from banning social media for under-16s to tackling addictive design features.
‘When it comes to children’s safety, nothing is off the table and we will set out our plans in the summer.’
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