Watchdog says under-16 ban may affect older teenagers without passport or licence, and that ‘motivated children’ will skirt restrictions
More than 100,000 British teenagers risk being locked out of social media if they do not have a passport or driving licence when an under-16 ban is introduced next year.
Ofcom, the UK’s online watchdog, said about 150,000 16- to 17-year-olds do not own a passport or driving licence, which are likely to be needed to access age-restricted platforms.
Social media users may be required to have photo ID to prove their age when Labour's ban for under-16s comes into force in spring as current facial age checks are inadequate, Ofcom has said.
Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s YouTube, TikTok parent ByteDance and Snap are facing thousands of lawsuits brought by US states, school districts and individuals alleging the companies intentionally designed their platforms to keep young users hooked.
The companies have denied allegations that their products have contributed to depression, anxiety, body-image issues and a broader youth mental health crisis, saying they take action to protect the youngest users of their platforms.
The companies also have argued that Section 230 of a federal law called the Communications Decency Act shields them from claims based on the content their users post.
Here is a look at the current state of the litigation in US courts.
States seek billions over alleged harm
Nearly every US state filed claims against social media companies over the alleged impact on children of their platforms. The lawsuits seek damages or financial penalties, as well as court orders directing the companies to make significant changes to their platforms.
In August, Meta resolved nearly all of the state lawsuits against it with settlements worth up to $18 billion over the next decade. As part of the deal, Meta agreed to limit how teenagers can use Facebook and Instagram.
The deal made $5 billion of the payout contingent on YouTube, TikTok and Snap reaching similar agreements with the states.
New Mexico and Florida did not join the settlement.
Florida has an ongoing lawsuit against Meta in state court.
New Mexico has sued Meta twice. Earlier this year, jurors and a judge ordered the Facebook and Instagram parent company to pay more than $940 million to the state after finding that Meta failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation on its platforms.
In October, another New Mexico jury agreed with the state that Meta had misled consumers about how it handles data privacy. The judge overseeing the case ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion in penalties. Meta has said it will appeal both verdicts.
TikTok, facing lawsuits by at least 27 states, settled with Alabama in September, days before that lawsuit was slated for trial. TikTok agreed to pay Alabama up to $300 million if the majority of states reach similar agreements with the company.
Schools seek compensation for social media harm
More than 1,000 US school districts have filed lawsuits over claims that social media companies designed their platforms to be addictive, contributing to anxiety, depression and self-harm and leaving schools to deal with the fallout. The schools are seeking compensation for what they say they have spent dealing with social media’s effects on students, plus additional funding to limit its impact going forward.
A small school district in rural eastern Kentucky was selected as the first school district case to go to trial. But the June trial was canceled after the companies reached settlements with the district. Public records revealed that the district was set to receive $27 million under the agreements.
Lawsuits brought by school districts in Charleston, South Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona, have been chosen for trial next.
Teenagers take tech giants to court
On Wednesday, two teenagers who have said Instagram and Snapchat caused them serious mental health problems will take Meta and Snap to trial in Los Angeles.
It is the second trial in more than 3,300 lawsuits brought in California state court by young people and their families alleging that Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive. TikTok and YouTube settled with both plaintiffs before trial and Meta settled with one.
The lawsuits were selected as bellwethers, or test cases, for the state court cases. Attorneys often use bellwether verdicts to gauge how juries may view similar claims, helping them assess the potential value of remaining cases and guide settlement negotiations.
Jury verdicts test companies’ liability
In the first trial to test an individual’s claims that social media caused personal harm, a young woman alleged that her addiction to social media led to depression and anxiety.
In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent and ordered Meta to pay $4.2 million in damages and Google $1.8 million. Both companies have appealed.
The second trial over an individual’s claims against the companies, scheduled for July in Los Angeles, was canceled after the plaintiff reached settlements with TikTok, Snap and YouTube and dropped his claims against Meta.
In August, a third teen whose case was chosen for trial dropped her case against Meta, Snap and YouTube after she settled with TikTok.
Smartphones, social media, and AI pose significant risks to children’s wellbeing, mental health, learning and development.
On Tuesday, Nordic leaders called for fundamental changes to the design of social media and other digital platforms to better protect children and young people’s health and development.
At a meeting in Helsinki hosted by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and attended by representatives from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Aland Islands, a joint declaration was adopted stressing the urgent need to strengthen online protection for minors.
The declaration warned that smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence pose significant risks to children’s and young people’s wellbeing, mental health, learning and development. The full extent of their impact remains unclear.
Children are gaining access to digital platforms too early and too extensively, and the platforms are not designed to support healthy growth and learning, according to the declaration.
Australia's rule is one of several, and Indonesia by itself holds the bulk of the children covered, based on our study of 17.9 million children aged 13 to 15. https://t.co/sCGJNJ11Oo
Several Nordic countries are currently preparing legislation and recommendations on age limits for social media platforms. Meanwhile, leaders also held discussions on Tuesday with students aged 12 to 14 and young politicians on the protection of children and young people in digital environments.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the Nordic Council, held in Helsinki from Monday to Thursday.
Finland holds the presidency of the Nordic Council in 2026, while Denmark and the Faroe Islands jointly hold the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
The legislation requires social media platforms to implement age-verification measures to ensure compliance. Companies that fail to meet the requirements could face fines of up to 6 percent of their global annual turnover.
Addressing parliament ahead of the vote, Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence Minister Dimitris Papastergiou described the measure as a necessary step that is compatible with the European Union’s (EU) existing regulatory framework.
“It would have been very easy to do absolutely nothing today and wait for the perfect European law. But the challenge is here. Children are sinking into the internet every day, and I believe a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do,” he said.
4 countries. 1 growing movement.
France, Denmark, Spain and Greece are all moving to block children from social media — and Greece wants Brussels to make it a Europe-wide rule.#EUXLpic.twitter.com/xH6iJrO139
Minister of State Akis Skertsos said technology should be regulated in ways that give children greater freedom to grow up safely.
Excessive use of social media can negatively affect children’s sleep, concentration, social relationships and psychological development, said Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who described digital addiction as a public health challenge.
The legislation forms part of broader government efforts to protect children from harmful online content, cyberbullying and platform features that encourage excessive use. Greece aims to become the first EU member state to introduce such a ban.
The French parliament passed legislation on July 21 aimed at protecting minors from the risks associated with social media use. However, the French Constitutional Council ruled on Aug. 14 that the key provision banning under-15s from accessing social media was unconstitutional.
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