Prime minister says UK must do more to regulate against potential harms after landmark ruling in US court
Keir Starmer has said he will tackle “addictive features” in social media amid increasing signs the UK government is preparing to crack down on risks to children after a US court verdict that held Meta and YouTube responsible for harms caused by designing addictive technology.
The prime minister said the verdict in a California court signalled a rising public expectation for more aggressive regulation and said: “I’m absolutely clear that we need to go further.”
“The status quo isn’t good enough,” he said. “We need to do more to protect children. That’s why we’re consulting about issues such as banning social media for under-16s. I’m very keen that we do more on addictive features within social media.”
Jurors in the US found the tech companies to be negligent, having failed to provide adequate warnings about the potential dangers of their products. The jury awarded the plaintiff – a 20-year-old woman who said she became hooked on social media as a child – damages of $6m (£4.5m), with Meta to pay 70% and YouTube the remainder.
