They pushed against the notion that psychological harms could be the result of social media use and downplayed research that showed otherwise. State investigators built their case by posing as children on social media, then documenting sexual solicitations they received as well as Meta's response. "For the first time, courts have held social media platforms accountable for how their product design can harm users," said Nikolas Guggenberger, an assistant professor of law at the University of Houston Law Centre. In a 2025 Pew Research Center poll, for instance, 48 per cent of teens said social media harms people their age. Whether it's another social media app, AI or some other new technology, she added, new things will crop up.

Source: The Telegraph March 26, 2026 08:15 UTC