Child Safety

On August 26, 2026, Meta settled a multidistrict lawsuit brought by 51 attorneys general (47 states, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands) alleging it designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to minors and misled the public about platform safety. Meta agreed to pay a maximum of about $16.7 billion to the states, with total settlement value reaching up to $18 billion; roughly 30% ($5.3B) is contingent on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar safety measures and payments. Meta also agreed to new safety measures: a 2-hour daily usage cap for teens, blocking usage from midnight-6am absent parental consent, enhanced age verification, expanded parental controls, and an independent compliance auditor. The suit followed a trial that began August 18, 2026, over claims filed in October 2023. This is separate from the March 2026 New Mexico jury verdict against Meta on related child-exploitation claims.

The European Commission issued preliminary findings that TikTok breaches Article 28 of the Digital Services Act, determining that minors' accounts default to 'public' visibility with content eligible for recommendation in the For You feed, that profile photos remain visible to all users, that 'private' accounts remain discoverable via follower/following lists, and that high-level protections are opt-in rather than default. TikTok faces a potential fine of up to 6% of ByteDance's global annual revenue if a final non-compliance decision is issued. TikTok disputed the assessment, saying it would review the findings and pointed to its existing teen-account privacy and safety features. The case is part of a wider DSA investigation opened against TikTok in February 2024 that also covers the platform's recommender-system design.

On July 13, 2026, Dutch non-profit Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SMC) filed a class action lawsuit against Klarna in the Netherlands, alleging the company failed to conduct adequate creditworthiness assessments before extending buy-now-pay-later credit, provided credit to minors without valid parental consent using age-verification processes SMC called 'easy to circumvent,' and handled disputed claims, returns, and fraud cases carelessly. SMC is seeking over €500 million in reimbursements covering purchase amounts, late fees, collection costs, and fines. The suit follows an April 2026 ruling by Dutch complaints institute Kifid that Klarna's BNPL services fall under consumer credit regulation; Klarna is appealing that ruling and disputes the class action's allegations.

A Federal District (Brasilia) court ruled on June 17, 2026 that Garena and twelve other gaming and platform companies failed to protect children from 'loot box' randomized-purchase mechanics, in a civil action brought by Brazil's National Association of Child and Adolescent Defense Centers (ANCED). Garena, Sea Limited's gaming subsidiary, was fined R$15 million (~$2.9M) over Free Fire as part of a R$298M (~$58.7M) collective judgment against the named companies. The court ordered Garena, within 90 days, to display explicit randomness warnings, disclose item-drop probabilities, deploy reliable (non-self-declared) age verification blocking minors from loot-box purchases, and provide refunds for loot-box purchases made by minors without parental authorization. The ruling is subject to appeal.

A Brasília federal district court ruled on June 17, 2026 (case 0701554-83.2021.8.07.0013) that Tencent violated Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) by offering paid randomized loot boxes to minors without adequate warnings, odds disclosure, or age verification. Tencent was ordered to pay R$50 million (~$9.8 million) in collective damages, part of a combined R$298 million judgment against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony, EA, Riot Games, Garena, Ubisoft, Valve, Konami, and Nintendo in the same ruling. Companies must implement probability disclosures, reliable age verification, and refund systems for minors' purchases within 90 days of final judgment or face daily fines of R$100,000. The ruling is subject to appeal and also allows individual children to pursue separate compensation claims.

A Brasília federal district court ruled on June 17, 2026 (case 0701554-83.2021.8.07.0013) that Sony violated Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) by offering paid randomized loot boxes to minors without adequate warnings, odds disclosure, or age verification. Sony was ordered to pay R$40 million (~$7.8 million) in collective damages, part of a combined R$298 million judgment against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, EA, Riot Games, Garena, Ubisoft, Valve, Konami, and Nintendo in the same ruling. Companies must implement probability disclosures, reliable age verification, and refund systems for minors' purchases within 90 days of final judgment or face daily fines of R$100,000. The ruling is subject to appeal and also allows individual children to pursue separate compensation claims.

A Brasília federal district court ruled on June 17, 2026 (case 0701554-83.2021.8.07.0013) that Nintendo violated Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) by offering paid randomized loot boxes to minors without adequate warnings, odds disclosure, or age verification. Nintendo was ordered to pay R$5 million (~$1.0 million) in collective damages, part of a combined R$298 million judgment against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, Sony, EA, Riot Games, Garena, Ubisoft, Valve, and Konami in the same ruling. Companies must implement probability disclosures, reliable age verification, and refund systems for minors' purchases within 90 days of final judgment or face daily fines of R$100,000. The ruling is subject to appeal and also allows individual children to pursue separate compensation claims.

A Federal District (Brasilia) court ruled on June 17, 2026 that Valve and twelve other gaming and platform companies failed to protect children from randomized 'loot box' purchase mechanics, in a civil action brought by Brazil's National Association of Child and Adolescent Defense Centers (ANCED). Valve was fined R$10 million (~$1.96M) over loot-box style item drops in Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2, as part of a R$298M (~$58.4M) collective judgment against the named companies. The court ordered Valve, within 90 days, to display explicit randomness warnings, disclose item-drop probabilities, deploy reliable (non-self-declared) age verification blocking minors from loot-box purchases, and provide refunds for purchases made by minors without parental authorization. The ruling is subject to appeal.

A Federal District (Brasilia) court ruled on June 17, 2026 that Electronic Arts and twelve other gaming and platform companies failed to protect children from randomized 'loot box' purchase mechanics, in a civil action brought by Brazil's National Association of Child and Adolescent Defense Centers (ANCED). EA was fined R$20 million (~$3.92M) over loot-box mechanics in Apex Legends and EA FC, as part of a R$298M (~$58.4M) collective judgment against the named companies. The court ordered EA, within 90 days, to display explicit randomness warnings, disclose item-drop probabilities, deploy reliable (non-self-declared) age verification blocking minors from loot-box purchases, and provide refunds for purchases made by minors without parental authorization. The ruling is subject to appeal.

A Federal District (Brasilia) court ruled on June 17, 2026 that Riot Games and twelve other gaming and platform companies failed to protect children from randomized 'loot box' purchase mechanics, in a civil action brought by Brazil's National Association of Child and Adolescent Defense Centers (ANCED). Riot was fined R$15 million (~$2.94M) over loot-box mechanics in League of Legends, as part of a R$298M (~$58.4M) collective judgment against the named companies. The court ordered Riot, within 90 days, to display explicit randomness warnings, disclose item-drop probabilities, deploy reliable (non-self-declared) age verification blocking minors from loot-box purchases, and provide a free refund system for purchases made by minors without parental authorization; noncompliance carries a daily fine of R$100,000. The ruling is subject to appeal.

Cheryl Zimmerman filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI in June 2026 after her 14-year-old daughter Juliana Peralta died by suicide. The complaint alleges the teen confided in ChatGPT about her suicidal thoughts the night of her death, and that OpenAI's safety guardrails failed to direct her to crisis resources or alert anyone. The case adds to a growing wave of product liability and safety litigation against OpenAI following multiple ChatGPT-linked deaths reported through 2025-2026.

Vietnamese outlets Lao Dong and VietNamNet reported that VNG Corporation published multiple games carrying official 18+ content-approval ratings -- including Vo Lam Truyen Ky Mobile (5 million+ Google Play downloads), Lineage2M, Tan Thien Long, and Lien Minh Huyen Thoai: Toc Chien -- at lower displayed age ratings (9+/12+/13+) on Google Play and the App Store, making them more readily accessible to minors. Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Culture and Sports subsequently ordered all game publishers, including VNG, to correct app-store age-rating discrepancies within 15 days to match official approvals, implement reliable identity verification, and enforce daily playtime limits for minors, under penalty of distribution suspension or revoked publishing approval.

On March 24, 2026, a New Mexico jury found Meta violated state consumer protection laws by misleading the public about platform safety for minors. The jury awarded $375M in damages after finding Meta failed to prevent child sexual exploitation on Instagram and Facebook. Meta's stock rose 5% after the verdict, suggesting shareholders viewed the penalty as manageable for the ~$1.5T company. A Phase 2 bench trial scheduled for May 2026 will determine whether Meta must implement specific reforms including effective age verification and predator removal systems.

A Delaware judge ruled in early March 2026 that Hartford, Chubb, and more than 20 other insurers do not have a duty to defend Meta in thousands of lawsuits alleging its platforms harm children. The court found that harm from deliberate design choices (addictive features, algorithmic amplification) does not qualify as 'accidents' under insurance policies. This ruling represents a significant financial blow to Meta, which faces thousands of pending addiction and child safety lawsuits.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Valve Corporation on February 25, 2026 in New York State Supreme Court under Executive Law Section 63(12), alleging that loot-box mechanics in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2 function as illegal, unlicensed gambling. The complaint describes players paying for 'keys' to open loot boxes containing randomly selected cosmetic items via an animated spinning-wheel mechanic resembling a slot machine, with items resellable for real money on Valve's Steam Community Market and on third-party marketplaces Valve allegedly facilitates -- one Counter-Strike item reportedly sold for over $1 million. The suit alleges Valve made billions of dollars from the system and seeks a permanent injunction plus an accounting of New York consumers' losses, with James calling the mechanics 'addictive, harmful, and illegal' and warning of risks to young players.

On February 20, 2026, the National Parent Teacher Association ended its partnership with Meta amid ongoing child-safety trials. The decision came two days after Zuckerberg testified in a landmark social media addiction trial where he was grilled about internal documents showing millions of underage users.

On February 19, 2026, West Virginia AG JB McCuskey filed a consumer protection lawsuit alleging Apple allowed child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) to be stored and distributed on iCloud services. The lawsuit claims Apple 'prioritized user privacy over child safety for years' - Apple filed only 267 CSAM reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2023, compared to Google's 1.47 million reports. The state seeks statutory and punitive damages plus injunctive relief requiring Apple to implement effective CSAM detection.

On February 18, 2026, Mark Zuckerberg testified in Los Angeles in a landmark trial over social media's effects on children - his first testimony on child safety in front of a jury. He was grilled about internal documents showing 4M+ users under 13 in 2015 and goals to increase user engagement to 40-46 minutes daily. Zuckerberg said he reached out to Tim Cook to discuss 'wellbeing of teens and kids.' The trial could set precedent for 1,500+ similar lawsuits.

In January 2026, Snap Inc. settled a bellwether case just days before trial, in which a 19-year-old woman and her mother alleged she developed mental health problems after becoming addicted to Snapchat. The suit accused Snapchat of engineering features like infinite scroll, Snapstreaks, and recommendation algorithms that made the app nearly impossible for kids to stop using, leading to depression, eating disorders, and self-harm. The settlement terms were confidential. The broader MDL included over 2,243 plaintiffs as of January 2026.

Google settled allegations that apps in its 'Designed for Families' programme, meant to help parents find safe apps for children, were actually tracking children's data. The programme was supposed to certify apps as safe for kids, but the tracked apps violated children's privacy protections.