All articles tagged with #youth safety
Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute labeled OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens an 'unacceptable risk' after testing found that parental alerts for suicide and self-harm often failed to trigger. OpenAI disputes the findings, citing methodology flaws, while the nonprofit urges restricting the tool to adults until safeguards are proven effective.
Westfield Wheaton and Westfield Montgomery malls in Maryland will enforce a 3 p.m. curfew for visitors under 18 starting September 28. The new 'Parental Guidance Policy' requires minors to be accompanied by an adult aged 21 or older, with one adult allowed to supervise up to four youths. This measure follows a series of violent incidents, including a July shooting at Wheaton Mall that injured a 13-year-old. While mall management cites safety concerns, community reactions are divided, with some residents calling the rule restrictive and others supporting stricter oversight.
Westfield Wheaton and Westfield Montgomery malls in Maryland will enforce a parental guidance policy starting September 28, 2026. The rule prohibits visitors under 18 from entering the malls after 3 p.m. without an adult aged 21 or older. One adult may supervise up to four minors. The policy applies to both interior spaces and outdoor parking areas, aiming to address recent incidents of youth violence and disorderly conduct.
Snap Inc CEO Evan Spiegel told the BBC that the company is willing to implement daily time limits for teenage users, mirroring measures adopted by Meta following a $12.7 billion legal settlement. Spiegel described such limits as an important industry norm but did not provide a timeline for implementation. The comments coincided with the announcement of new AI-powered Specs smart glasses, which cost $2,195 and feature privacy indicators to distinguish them from competitors.
California's Democratic-led legislature passed over 20 bills on Monday night targeting artificial intelligence and social media, including AB 1709, which bans 'addictive' features for users under 16. Governor Gavin Newsom must decide whether to sign these measures by the end of the month. While proponents view the laws as a necessary national blueprint for child safety, critics argue they infringe on privacy and free speech.
California lawmakers approved AB 1709, banning addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay for users under 16. The bill follows an $18 billion Meta settlement and faces a decision from Gov. Newsom by September 30.
A judge approved Meta's $18 billion settlement with 48 U.S. states on August 27, 2026, requiring strict new safety measures for teens on Facebook and Instagram. The agreement mandates a default two-hour daily usage limit, overnight access blocks, and enhanced parental controls. While the financial package is substantial, a portion of the payout is contingent on rivals like TikTok and YouTube adopting similar restrictions.
Former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, a key figure in the 1998 tobacco settlement, is advocating for a comprehensive national agreement with social media companies to address youth addiction. While Meta recently agreed to a $17 billion settlement with state attorneys general, Moore argues this is merely a starting point. He is working with the newly formed Attention Initiative to draft master settlement language that includes a permanent national public education fund. Critics note that unlike tobacco, technology evolves rapidly, making broad regulatory frameworks difficult to implement without unintended consequences.
Meta settled a multistate lawsuit for up to $18 billion, agreeing to strict youth safety measures. The deal includes a conditional clause requiring TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar rules or face higher penalties. California’s AG is now pursuing TikTok and Snap to enforce these standards.
A California trial pits 29 state attorneys general against Meta, accusing Facebook and Instagram of being intentionally addictive to children and improperly collecting their data; the case seeks age restrictions and the removal of features like infinite scroll, with penalties potentially in the hundreds of billions of dollars; Meta defends its safety protections, cites unsubstantiated claims, and will face testimony from executives such as Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri, in the context of broader youth-safety lawsuits and prior related verdicts against Meta and Google.
A New Mexico court ruled Meta created a public nuisance harming children and ordered the company to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund and implement five-year youth-safety measures on Facebook and Instagram, including monthly usage limits for teens, reduced notifications, tighter controls on adult-minor contact, safeguards for AI chatbots, and improved review of child sexual abuse reports; Meta said it will appeal.
The Benadryl Challenge—a dangerous online trend encouraging high-dose diphenhydramine (Benadryl) use to induce hallucinations—has been linked to teen deaths since 2020, with a study suggesting as many as 131 U.S. deaths through 2024. In 2026 the trend continued, prompting public health efforts focused on early education, risk communication, medication safety, and cross‑sector action (FDA warnings, platform safeguards, school programs, caregivers, and poison control) to curb harm and prevent future outbreaks.
Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute finds Google's AI-powered search can miss crisis signals and even surface harmful content for teens, with examples where the AI failed to detect suicidal ideation or disordered eating, steered users toward unsafe forums, and encouraged behaviors like deepfakes or homework shortcuts. The researchers tested 2,600 queries from SafeSearch-enabled accounts ages 11–15 and found cases where the AI did not provide appropriate help or safety resources. Google disputed many findings, saying results aren’t reproducible and that safety guardrails exist. The report adds that a product so central to kids’ devices should be held to higher standards.
Governments worldwide are increasingly enacting or considering minimum-age rules for social media, mostly targeting 15–16-year-olds and often requiring age verification or parental consent; Australia led with a nationwide under-16 ban in 2025, while several European countries (e.g., France, Portugal) and U.S. states are moving toward similar thresholds or feature restrictions to address online safety and teen mental health, though approaches and enforcement vary.
In a Los Angeles civil trial over Instagram’s impact on youth mental health, Mark Zuckerberg testified that he spoke with Tim Cook in 2018 about youth wellbeing, defended Meta’s policies and free-expression stance, and acknowledged the legal question of whether Instagram was a substantial factor in the plaintiff’s mental health, with jurors deciding causation.