It has never been clearer that multibillion-dollar Big Tech giants that design social media and other tech platforms are preying on our children. In fact, the evidence reveals that these highly profitable businesses, which in the past have only provided avenues for sexual predators, traffickers, sextortionists, and pornographers to groom and exploit children, are now groomers and exploiters of children themselves.
In several recent trials, evidence and testimony reveal that Big Tech has deliberately hooked children on social media and enabled them to be sexually exploited.
In one case, the lead plaintiff, identified as KGM, sued several social media giants, alleging she became addicted to their apps beginning in childhood, leading to depression and suicidal thoughts. Both Snapchat and TikTok wisely chose to settle out of court, but Meta and Google weren’t that smart and are dealing with a well-deserved PR disaster as a result.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was called as a witness in this trial and admitted that Meta previously tracked time spent on its platforms as a goal. He also conceded that age restrictions are difficult to enforce, noting there are “a meaningful number of people who lie about their age to use our services.”
This very fact is why we have been calling for the implementation of age verification technologies for decades, proven technologies that have been effectively utilized to age-gate minors from accessing gambling sites and, more recently, pornography sites. Zuckerberg’s lame excuse was recently proven false when Meta itself, as well as Snapchat, booted over half a million children off their platforms or otherwise faced fines of up to $33 million in compliance with the new Australian law that restricts minors 16 and under from accessing social media.
But the reality is that social media intentionally hooks users through the way it programs its algorithms.
During the trial, Dr. Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, explained that these design features are “critical to Meta and YouTube’s business model,” as they are “designed to addict kids.” Dr, Kara Bagot, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, testified to a “reasonable degree of medical certainty” that design features including autoplay, the “like” button, infinite scroll, filters, notifications, and reels are engineered to hook users and keep them engaged and in fact cause or substantially contribute to social media addiction, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Meta knows it was pushing its social platforms like a drug to children and teenagers. Its own internal studies found that Instagram worsened body image issues for many teenage girls, intensified anxiety and depression among teenagers, and encouraged compulsive, addictive use — yet the company continued to promote and expand these products to young users.
In another trial, New Mexico is suing Meta for the sexual exploitation of children. Evidence presented revealed that over 500,000 children were targeted with sexually inappropriate messages per day on Facebook. Unsealed filings also reference 7.5 million child sexual abuse material reports that allegedly wouldn’t be disclosed after Zuckerberg’s 2019 decision to make Facebook Messenger end-to-end encrypted by default.
Instagram’s former head of safety said that Meta wouldn’t remove an account reportedly engaged in sex trafficking unless it was reported at least 17 times.
Americans are waking up to Big Tech’s harms on children. A new poll released by the Tech Oversight Project found that a “near-universal percentage (86%) of Americans are disgusted by Big Tech for recklessly endangering minors by designing addictive features into its products.”
In 2025, two Meta whistleblowers testified before Congress that Meta is “aware children are being harmed in Virtual Reality,” that it “chooses profit over safety,” and that it “chooses to ignore the problems they create.”
Despite this, Meta has failed to improve its platforms substantially or to be transparent about the safety threats. In fact, features such as “cosmetic surgery” filters, which Meta had deemed unsafe, were later reintroduced, demonstrating that profits are more important than knowingly harming children.
These trials — the first of their kind in which Big Tech executives are on the witness stand — underscore the urgent need for continued advocacy to hold technology companies accountable. Advocates and policymakers — including Enough Is Enough — are pushing for stronger safeguards, greater transparency, and enforceable protections to ensure that platforms prioritize the safety and well-being of children and teenagers over engagement and growth.
Our elected leaders must also act. Right now, Congress should pass the Kids Online Safety Act, the Senate version that includes the Duty of Care provision and provides stronger protections than the House version, and pass the No Deep Fakes Act, Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (I-IA) bill. Ultimately, Congress should also repeal Section 230, Big Tech’s liability shield that protects the tech industry, not children.
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An executive order from President Donald Trump “declaring the online exploitation and abuse of children as a public health crisis” would fuel efforts to turn the tide to prioritize the safety and dignity of children and make the internet safe for the first time in history.
Big Tech is the new Big Tobacco and needs to be reined in via congressional regulation, lawsuits, and public outcry. They are profiting from harm to children, and the evidence is overwhelming.
Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough Is Enough, is an internationally known internet safety expert, author, speaker, media commentator, producer, and host of PBS’s Emmy Award-winning Internet Safety 101 series and host of the podcast Internet Safety with Donna Rice Hughes. Under her leadership, EIE created the Internet Safety 101 Program with the Department of Justice.