Reporting on social media harm to children, the courts and the law
A five-year review of more than 1,000 studies by France's health agency Anses finds strong associations between prolonged use and mental health harm, with girls and LGBTQIA+ young people most at risk.
Read the full reportAlberto Anaya Gutiérrez has put forward a reform to Mexico's children's rights law that would require platforms to verify users' ages, with the bill now before Senate committees.
Sellers on the platform are advertising lock-picking magnets to pupils as the phone-free rule takes effect in English schools, and Esther Ghey has called the practice exploitative.
Three minors were prosecuted for publicly glorifying terrorism after a filmed rap performance outside their school spread online, and the children's judge followed prosecutors' demands.
Federal Education Minister Karin Prien has presented an expert commission's recommendations for protecting children online, as the European Commission's EU Kids Act proposal, which would bar…
The official gazette has published the rule, which requires platforms to verify ages and blocks any service that could be addictive to children. It follows a law passed by parliament in April.
The proposed law would block new accounts for under-15s from 1 September, with existing account holders given until 1 January to delete them, as child safety groups urge France to go further.
Around 4,000 pupils aged 12 to 15 will have apps such as TikTok and Snapchat capped at one hour a day under a world-first study, announced as the government consults on a possible ban for under-16s.
The Dutch cabinet wants phones out of classrooms from 2027, and researchers now ask whether teachers who make videos with their pupils should also be covered by the rule.
Kris Mayes alleges the platform concealed risks to children while engineering features such as infinite scroll to maximise compulsive use. TikTok says the case relies on misleading claims and says…
Officers in Smyth County, Virginia say a suspect gathered pictures of local children from the platform, and urge adults to review what they post and check regularly for signs of exploitation.
Common Sense Media says parental alerts and crisis safeguards on OpenAI's teen mode often did not work; OpenAI disputes the testing methods.
The Apple chief praised the EU's proposed age verification framework after meeting Ursula von der Leyen, while his company continues to argue against a similar Texas law it says would force the…
The rebuke came as Meta faces requests to re-examine hundreds of thousands of documents, weeks after the company announced a settlement with state attorneys general worth at least $12.1 billion,…
Three ministers will present the framework on October 12 before a bill goes to Parliament, with age checks run through the Kids Wallet app.
Officers from a US child exploitation taskforce told Meta's trial in New Mexico that vast numbers of low-quality reports are draining their resources, as the company announces new AI safety tools of…
Keosian Law LLP brought law enforcement, lawyers and therapists together in Sherman Oaks to discuss online harm to children, as the firm continues litigation over social media addiction and claims…
A Seville court has imposed the country's first criminal sentence for AI manipulated images: nine months in prison, suspended, and a ban from WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Discord for three…
Stichting Offlimits received 955 reports of online bullying in the first nine months of 2026, up from 860 in all of 2025, with more than 17 per cent involving AI-manipulated images, up from 2 per…
Attorney General James Uthmeier filed for a temporary injunction in Pasco County after Florida refused to join Meta's settlement with 48 other states and Washington DC.
The European Commission is gathering views on its proposal to ban social media accounts for under-13s, while Meta publishes new AI systems against child exploitation and expands its school…
A positive report from the bill's rapporteur, dated 18 September 2026, is before the Sixth Commission of the Chamber of Representatives, which must still call the text for its first debate. The bill…
A survey of 726 Western Australian parents found 88% support the ban even though 92% use the platforms themselves, and nearly all of those users are on them every day.
The family of a former Meta content moderator who died by suicide in France say they will sue Meta and its Barcelona subcontractor Telus over the psychological toll of her work, and are seeking up…
Unsealed court filings say thousands of accounts, including children's, were given a placebo version of Algo Refresh in 2023 while time on the app and advertising revenue were measured. TikTok says…
The blockade of ByteDance campaigns deepens a rivalry transformed by litigation. Meta is pressing TikTok and YouTube to match the youth protections it agreed in its settlement with US states,…
Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov said temporary suspension of existing under-16 accounts would be considered during a transition period, with age verification rules to follow. Amendments to the online…
The revised draft targets features such as endless scrolling and overnight notifications after the Constitutional Council found the original ban disproportionate. Emmanuel Macron says France will…
The European Commission's proposal would bring in age checks on new accounts, restrict 13 to 15 year olds to parent-run mini accounts capped at an hour a day, and shift the burden of proof on safety…
The draft law would have lifted the minimum account age from 14 to 16 and made platforms verify users' ages. With parliament dissolved ahead of a 29 November vote, the bill lapses and any revival…
The regulator penalised Itai Tech Ltd £50,000 for age verification failures and £5,000 for ignoring information requests, its second fine under the Online Safety Act.
Boy Tanis, 19, from Geertruidenberg, took his petition "Bescherm jongeren tegen rokende influencers" to the Tweede Kamer on 6 October; AD and BN DeStem report it carries 25,000 signatures.
Nicolas Isnard, mayor of Salon-de-Provence, wants minors blocked from social networks during periods of unrest, but a Conseil d'État ruling on New Caledonia's TikTok ban and EU law stand in the way,…
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About: French health agency review links heavy teen social media use to anxiety and self-harm
