The US lags other countries in social media restrictions for kids, but a reform push is growing
Bride and Neville lost their teenage son that day. Their children lived thousands of miles apart and had never met, but they both died from harm resulting from their use of social media.
Bride said she felt “completely alone” when the two mothers met early in her advocacy work to protect other children. But they have since seen the online child safety movement evolve, with many parents who have lost children pursuing stronger social media measures and legislation to protect children online.
With this momentum, advocates say the tide is turning. A pair of landmark jury verdicts this year showed a path forward for holding tech companies accountable. And while the U.S. is no closer to adopting children’s social media bans than those from Australia to Indonesia, a push for regulation is reigniting in Congress.
“From my perspective it’s progress, it’s a groundswell. The court of public opinion is now on our side and it’s very strong. That’s taken things to the next level,” Neville said in an interview.
Neville said his son Alexander Neville was “brilliant and intense”, had an entrepreneurial spirit and “the best laugh in the world”. When he was 14, a drug dealer contacted him on Snapchat and sold him the pill that killed him. Carson Bride was the “bright light” of his family, a funny and caring child who loved interacting with people, his mother said. He died by suicide at the age of 16 after severe cyberbullying.
The teens were honored in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, alongside 270 other children and teens who have died as a result of online harm. This was the sixth anniversary of the boys’ deaths, and their families were scrambling to designate Social Media Victims of Remembrance Day.
Jury verdicts hold social media companies liable for damages
Growing awareness of the dangers social media poses to young and developing minds has manifested itself in a new wave of restrictions globally. Australia, the UK, Türkiye, Indonesia and others have banned children under 16 or 15 from using platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
In the US, the movement has turned a corner with two jury verdicts against Meta and one against Google, galvanizing advocates on the issue of children’s online safety. Evidence in court cases has exposed the inner workings of some tech companies, including communications from employees who compared their products to drugs and casinos.
Allowing the Los Angeles lawsuit accusing social media platforms of intentionally harming children to move forward is a landmark move in itself, said Matthew Bergman, president of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which has represented more than 1,000 plaintiffs in lawsuits against social media companies.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects technology companies from legal liability for published content. This posed a barrier to accountability, but the lawsuits brush aside safeguards by focusing on the companies’ deliberate design choices rather than the content.
“It’s still an obstacle, but it’s not an obstacle anymore,” Bergman said.
Advocates say we have a long road ahead
Federal legislation regarding social media in the United States has moved very quickly. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, enacted in 2000, requires children’s apps and websites to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.
This week, lawmakers in the House unveiled a bipartisan agreement called the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act. This law includes parts of the Children’s Online Safety Act (KOSA), which passed the Senate in 2024, but critics say the most important part of the law is omitted from the so-called “duty of care” provision, a legal term that requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.
“Big Tech companies will maintain the status quo of putting profits ahead of the safety of our children, without a duty of care,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. , he said in a statement.
Bride said lawyers should use a three-pronged approach, utilizing legislation, litigation and education. That way, “when something like legislation stands,” Bride said, “then we have hearings and we have lawsuits. That’s why we keep moving forward. “We will not give up.”
Representatives from Meta, YouTube and TikTok did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Snap said in its written statement that it is constantly working to strengthen security protections on its platform.
Over the years, social media platforms have implemented some safety features, such as segregating minors into teen accounts and providing tighter restrictions for young teens. For example, Instagram now limits teen accounts to viewing content with “PG-13” ratings, and accounts are set to private and strangers cannot send messages. YouTube has a separate kids app and parental controls on its regular platform that allow “supervised kid accounts” for teens aging out of YouTube kids.
But child advocates say there’s still a long way to go.
“Their core incentive to design products that maximize engagement has not changed,” Bergman said. “Yes, there have been some improvements. A 13-year-old is not provided by default with an open account from which adult predators will prey. So, you know, there are small steps, but there are also steps in the right direction. We just need more.”
Social media concerns have reached tipping point, senators say
The Senate is adopting a resolution recognizing June 23 each year since 2024 as Social Media Harm Victims Remembrance Day, commemorating the lives of those who have died due to online harms such as suicide, drug poisoning, cyberbullying, and dangerous social media attacks.
Senators, as well as many parents and advocates (including Bride and Neville) who spoke at the event Tuesday evening, also called for immediate action.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. , advocated repeal of Section 230. You. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. , said advocates and lawmakers must “fight like hell to live.” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. , attacked members of Congress for not doing more, saying “we all know why they didn’t act.”
Hawley said the tech industry makes campaign contributions to lawmakers and spends millions on lobbying activities every year, saying, “For the same reason companies want kids online, they want their privacy destroyed, they want all their information; it’s money.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee has invited the CEOs of Meta, Alphabet, TikTok and Snap to testify at an upcoming hearing on the safety of children on their platforms. The committee titled the hearing “Is This Social Media’s Great Tobacco Moment?” By asking the question, he suggested that the USA has reached a turning point in awareness of the risks of social media.
Bride and Neville will listen carefully to the tech CEOs’ sworn remarks and remain optimistic, as they have done at a similar hearing in 2024 and at many other events regarding children’s online safety.
“Every morning I wake up and feel like lives are in danger. If we’re not talking about it, if we’re not doing something about it, lives are in danger,” Neville said. he said. “And it’s probably not good for my nervous system, but that’s probably where I’ll live on this hill until I die.”
