Mastodawn

Australia Threatens Legal Action Over Under-16 Social Media Ban Breaches https://petapixel.com/2026/03/31/australia-threatens-legal-action-over-under-16-social-media-ban-breaches/ #socialmediaban #childsafety #socialmedia #Technology #australia #google #tiktok #teens #News #meta #Law

Australia Threatens Legal Action Over Under-16 Social Media Ban Breaches

70% of kids still have access to social media.

PetaPixel

Mathrubhumi English 7h ago

Australia is investigating major social media platforms over alleged non-compliance with its under-16 ban, with companies facing heavy fines. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/technology/australia-social-media-ban-investigation-m3yev8tk?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #Australia #SocialMediaBan #BigTech #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety

PrivacyDigest 14h ago

#Snapchat Investigated in #Europe Over #ChildSafety Policies

Henna Virkkunen, the #European commissioner overseeing digital policy, said that the European Union’s #DigitalServicesAct “demands high safety standards for all users.”
#eu #europeanunion

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/business/snapchat-europe-child-safety.html

Snapchat Investigated in Europe Over Child Safety Policies

Regulators in Brussels accused the social media platform of maintaining a weak age-verification system, and steering younger users toward inappropriate experiences.

The New York Times

SquaredTech 1d ago

🚨 Breaking News! Meta faces a staggering $375M fine for endangering children with explicit content and predators on its platforms. It's a landmark victory for states! 👏 Safety for our children online must always be a priority. Let's keep the conversation going! 💬 #ChildSafety #MetaFine #OnlineSafety
https://www.squaredtech.co/metas-child-safety-fine?fsp_sid=7357

Meta's $375M Child Safety Fine: The Shocking Verdict!

Meta's Child Safety Fine hits $375M after court rules platforms endangered kids with explicit content and predators. Historic win for states.

SquaredTech

Brian Greenberg

1d ago

According to the recent Meta/YouTube verdict, the plaintiff started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9. The jury deliberated 43 hours, answered "yes" to every negligence question, and found evidence of malice. Then Meta's stock went up 0.7%. 🤔 That gap tells you everything. 📊

The $6 million award is basically a rounding error for companies pulling in $350 billion in combined annual revenue. What actually matters is the 2,000 pending lawsuits this verdict just handed a roadmap to, and the federal trial coming in Oakland this summer. This is the first domino. The tobacco industry had the same "we're being scapegoated" defense in 1994, and that argument eventually cost them $206 billion.

Here's what I keep thinking about as a guy who teaches about the legal, ethical, and social issues of information technology: the products we build have consequences we're responsible for, whether we want to admit it or not. The jury didn't care that Meta said Kaley's home life was complicated. They cared that the autoplay kept going anyway. 🔁

Two things can both be true: teen mental health is complex, and a notification engine designed to override a kid's ability to stop scrolling is a design choice someone made.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-03-25/social-media-lawsuit-trial-meta-google-verdict
#ChildSafety #BigTech #Leadership #Accountability #SocialMedia #Ethics #DePaulUniversity #DePaulU @depaulu

Landmark verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids

The outcome Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court is potentially precedent-setting for thousands of other pending lawsuits nationwide and could reshape how tech companies are held accountable for children's harm caused by their products.

Los Angeles Times