The US lags other countries in social media restrictions for kids, but a reform push is growing

Kristin Bride, right, mother of 16-year-old Carson Bride, who died by suicide after being cyber-bullied on an anonymous app on Snapchat, is joined by Amy Neville, left, mother of 14-year-old Alexander Neville, who died from fentanyl poisoning after being deceived by a drug dealer operating on Snapchat, during a Social Media Victims Remembrance Day memorial on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)2026-06-28T04:00:06Z Amy Neville describes Kristin Bride as her “soulmate.” But the day that forged their bond — June 23, 2020 — was the worst of each of their lives.Both Bride and Neville lost their teen sons that day. Their kids lived a thousand miles apart and never met, but they both died from harms related to their social media use.When the two mothers met, early in their advocacy work to protect other kids, Bride said she had felt “totally alone.” But they have since seen the online child safety movement blossom, with scores of other parents who lost kids pursuing stronger social media safeguards and legislation to protect children online. With that momentum, advocates say the tide seems to be turning. A pair of landmark jury verdicts this year showed a way forward for holding tech companies accountable. And while the U.S. is nowhere near embracing social media bans for children like those seen from Australia to Indonesia, a push for regulation is simmering again in Congress. “Moving forward for me, it’s this groundswell. We now have the court of public opinion on our side, and that is powerful. That has brought things to the next level,” Neville said in an interview. Her son Alexander Neville was “brilliant and intense,” Neville said, with an entrepreneurial spirit and “the best laugh in the world.” When he was 14, a drug dealer connected with him on Snapchat and sold him the pill that killed him. Carson Bride was the “bright light” of his family, a funny and caring kid who loved connecting with people, his mother said. He died by suicide at age 16 after severe cyberbullying.The teenagers were honored in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday alongside 270 other children and young people who died because of online harms. It was the sixth anniversary of the boys’ deaths, a date their families have worked to establish as Social Media Victims Remembrance Day. Read More Jury verdicts hold social media companies responsible for harmsGrowing awareness of the dangers social media poses for young, developing brains has shown up in a wave of new restrictions globally. Australia, the U.K., Turkey, Indonesia and others have passed bans on kids under 16 or 15 from using platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.In the U.S., the movement turned a corner with two jury verdicts against Meta and one against Google that galvanized proponents for kids’ online safety. Evidence in the court cases revealed some of the tech companies’ inner workings, including communications of employees who likened their products to drugs and casinos. That the Los Angeles trial accusing social media platforms of causing deliberate harm to children was allowed to move forward was itself a watershed movement, said Matthew Bergman, head of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents more than 1,000 plaintiffs in lawsuits against social media companies.Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act shields tech companies from legal responsibility for posted content. It has been a barrier to accountability but lawsuits are side-stepping its protections by focusing on the companies’ deliberate design choices rather than content.“It is still a hurdle, but it is no longer a barrier,” Bergman said. Advocates say there’s a long road aheadIn the U.S., federal legislation of social media has moved at a glacial pace. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which took effect in 2000, requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parents’ consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.This week, lawmakers in the House unveiled a bipartisan deal called the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act. It includes portions of the the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, which passed the Senate in 2024, but critics say it’s been stripped of its most important part — a provision called “duty of care,” a legal term that requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.“Without a duty of care, Big Tech companies will maintain the status quo of putting profit before the safety of our children,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a statement.Bride said advocates have to employ a three-prong approach, utilizing legislation, litigation and education. That way, “when one stalls, like legislation,” Bride said, “then we have the trials and we have litigation. So we keep pressing forward. We’re not going to give up.” Representatives from Meta, YouTube and TikTok did not immediately respond to messages for comment. Snap said in a written statement that it works continuously to strength