Citing features like endless scrolling that can encourage compulsive use, yesterday’s landmark jury ruling in Los Angeles found that Meta and Google were negligent in how Instagram and YouTube were designed for young users. Jurors found that Meta and Google intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed a 20-year old’s mental health, awarding her $6 million in damages.
For parents, the ruling is a powerful sign that longstanding worry about how social media affects kids is now being recognized, and being taken seriously in court. And those concerns aren’t just about what kids and teens are seeing on social media platforms, but about how each platform is designed to keep young users engaged and scrolling for as long as possible.
We asked psychologists, educators and digital wellness experts what parents should take away from the landmark ruling. Many said it confirms something families have felt for years: serious concerns about the negative effects of social media are not just valid but totally warranted.
Experts agree the problem is the design features deliberately built into social media apps that are meant to keep young people engaged for as long as possible.
Teodora Pavkovic, director of well-being and parent advocacy at Qustodio, a parental control app that helps parents monitor screen time, block content and manage kids’ device use, says intentional design choices are what keep kids engaged. Those design features include things like autoplay, endless scrolling, algorithm-driven recommendations and gamified streaks, all of which make it harder for kids to turn off their social media. “Even if ‘safety features’ are enabled, an app can still have addictive design features,” Pavkovic says.
Alli Spotts-De Lazzer, a licensed psychotherapist, eating disorders specialist and author of My Child Has an Eating Disorder: An Essential Guide for Parents of Kids, Teens, and Adults, says the issue is not just one app but the way all social media platforms use features that encourage comparison and constant engagement. She also warns that parental controls can create a false sense of security if parents aren’t closely monitoring their kids’ social media use. There is “no magic number” when it comes to screen time limits, but parents should set boundaries and stick to them, Spotts-De Lazzer says. She adds that “ongoing involvement and communication is probably the best safety feature” of all.
Why Teens Are Especially Vulnerable
Teens are especially vulnerable to these addictive social media features because their brains are still developing and they are more sensitive to feedback and reward, says Lauren Jessell, PhD, LCSW, founder of ParityWell, a New York City–based group mental health practice specializing in therapy and neurodevelopmental assessments.
How Beauty Content and Comparison Can Take a Toll on Teens
Repeated exposure to appearance-focused content can shape how kids see themselves, especially when filters create a completely unrealistic look, says Lisa George, a double board-certified nurse practitioner and founder of Talk Tribeca Psychiatry in New York City.
Rather than an outright ban, George encourages parents to talk openly about how edited so much of social media is and watch for patterns in what kids are being shown. “These platforms aren’t neutral—they’re designed to keep kids engaged,” and “what they’re being shown repeatedly matters more than one post,” George says.
Spotts-De Lazzer, who specializes in eating disorders, also says social media can become a steady stream of appearance-based messaging for vulnerable kids, especially when the content keeps reinforcing the same unrealistic beauty ideals over and over.
Experts say parents should watch to see whether social media use seems tied to worsening body image, withdrawal from real-life relationships, a bad mood, school problems or sleep disruption. If there are any signs of disordered eating, body dysmorphia or suicidal thinking, parents should get professional help as soon as possible.
Relying on More Than Parental Controls
Pavkovic says built-in tools such as time limits, downtime, app blockers and restricted modes can help create more structure, especially when the apps themselves do not encourage kids and teens to stop. But she and others caution that these settings will not solve the overall problem of excessive social media use, especially if parents aren’t closely motoring their kids’ social media use.
Spotts-De Lazzer says kids can often get around controls or create secondary social media accounts their parents don’t know about. The healthiest approach, experts say, combines parental controls with conversations, clear boundaries and close supervision to build healthier habits.
Warning Signs Parents Should Watch For
Experts say one of the clearest signs that social media use is becoming unhealthy is when a child cannot tolerate limits.
“It’s too much when screens start replacing real life,” says Renée Calhoun, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Pennsylvania and New York and community impact coordinator at Worthwhile, a nonprofit that serves those affected by human trafficking. “Kids don’t just need less screen time, they need more real-life connection.”
Dr. Peter J. Favaro, a clinical and forensic psychologist at New York City Conflict Resolution Services, says parents need to focus more on how much unrestricted access kids are given in the first place. Kids are not born with the self-control to manage constant access on their own. “Kids do not have self-control. It’s not a built-in option. They have to be taught…by parents,” he says. If a child is asked to hand over a phone and they freak out, this is a clear sign that that child is struggling to regulate their social media use, Favaro says.
What Parents Can Do
Experts agree that despite the ruling’s clear warnings about social media’s addictive features, parents should not jump to a total ban or dramatic crackdown. Instead, many recommend starting with smaller changes. That can mean no phones in bedrooms at night, no devices at meals, screen-free blocks of time during the day and more chances for kids to connect with people offline.
Calhoun says kids need space for face-to-face relationships, boredom, activities and real-world connection. Parents should do their part by modeling these habits for their kids.
“We can’t ask kids to disconnect if we’re constantly plugged in ourselves,” Calhoun says. “Kids need to see their parents engaging with them and with each other, not just with a screen.”
Jessell also recommends that parents set clear rules and model healthy social media habits themselves. “Periods of intentional abstinence are a powerful and often overlooked tool” for helping kids reset their habits and become more aware of how social media affects them and how they feel when they take a meaningful break, she says.
Social media has changed so quickly that research, policy and parenting advice have struggled to keep up. “We’ve been living through a large-scale social experiment,” Jessell says.
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