Legislation, Litigation, and Looking Ahead: Discussing Internet Usage Trends and How to Protect the Privacy of Minors and Prevent Their Exploitation

With almost all teens in the United States saying they “use the internet daily, including four-in-ten who say they are almost constantly online,” there is no denying that being online is a part of everyday life for most teens in the United States.¹ The increasing presence of AI chatbots has also impacted how teens behave online. About two-thirds of teens have used an AI chatbot and three-in-ten teens report a daily use of chatbots.² This constant online presence raises the question of whether enhanced legislation is needed to specifically protect the data privacy of minors and ensure they are not targeted through their online usage. However, passing legislation can be a slow process. Would change be better effectuated through lawsuits against major social media companies or online providers?

As technology has evolved and internet usage by minors has increased, there is a greater need for the protection of their data privacy and the prevention of their exploitation. This article seeks to examine recent activity in both legislation and litigation spheres to determine what the future of data privacy protection and internet regulation for minors will look like and what the best path forward may be.

Legislation

A major piece of federal legislation that serves to protect the data privacy of minors is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or “COPPA.” COPPA outlines requirements that online providers and services “directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age” must follow.³

More recent proposed legislation includes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)⁴ and the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act) which have been reviewed by Congress. The KIDS Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 29, 2026.⁵ 

The KIDS Act aims to protect children from being exploited online and to prevent online companies from targeting minors through certain algorithms and addictive features.⁶ The KIDS Act also aims to address issues that chatbots may pose to minors. The KIDS Act would require certain disclosures to be made regarding AI chatbots, the prohibition of certain topics when communicating with a chatbot, and for a study to be conducted focused on how chatbots impact children’s mental health.⁷ Chatbots and artificial intelligence in general has primarily been regulated by a patchwork of state legislation up until this point.⁸ The increasing prevalence of AI chatbots across various platforms may highlight a need for more uniform legislation to protect the interests of minors.

This legislation in the United States comes as some other countries are banning children from social media altogether. France recently passed a law banning social media for children under the age of 15.⁹ Britain also plans to implement legislation that will ban social media for users under the age of 16.¹⁰ Australia also has passed a law prohibiting social media companies from allowing users under the age of 16 to have an account on the site.¹¹

Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker recently signed a bill called the Children’s Social Media Safety Act aimed at combatting the addictive algorithms of social media platforms and requiring social media platforms to “confirm a user’s age through the device’s operating system.”¹² The bill will also ensure there are stronger “default privacy settings” for minors.¹³

The Illinois law doesn’t go into effect until 2028, and the KIDS Act still needs to pass the U.S. Senate. While legislation has been proposed and passed, there has also been litigation occurring recently related to the harmful impacts of online platforms on minors. These lawsuits may also be a way of pushing for change with the regulation of data privacy and online protections for minors.

Litigation & lawsuits

With the increasing usage of social media and online platforms by minors, lawsuits related to the impacts of social media and online usage by minors have started to increase as well. There is one such case in California in which the jury found Meta and YouTube “were negligent in the design or operation of their respective platforms, and that the negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff.”¹⁴ The jury in that case awarded the plaintiff $3 million in damages and “recommended an additional $3 million in punitive damages.”¹⁵ The plaintiff in that case reported being on Instagram for 16 hours in a single day, but when the Head of Instagram was told this information “he denied that it was evidence of an addiction.”¹⁶ Meta and YouTube are both appealing the verdict of that case, with YouTube in particular arguing it is not a social media company but instead is a streaming service.¹⁷

This case along with another case from New Mexico in which a jury found Meta “knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms” signal that the impacts of social media and online usage by minors are starting to come to light and be taken seriously by the legal system.¹⁸ 

The verdicts for the plaintiffs in these two cases could serve as precedent in similar cases.

Looking ahead

The recent increase in legislation and lawsuits centered on protecting minors’ data privacy and from exploitation on social media sites signals a need for greater regulation of online and social media platforms to protect the privacy interests of minors visiting these sites.

With the recent wins for plaintiffs against large social media companies, this could be an indicator of more lawsuits to come as the results of prolonged internet and social media usage come to light. The results of Meta and YouTube’s appeal in the California case will also influence future litigation regarding the effects of social media on children.

In considering how to most completely and comprehensively protect the data privacy of minors and prevent their exploitation, a combination of legislation and litigation will likely result in the best protections for minors. Whether the KIDS Act passes the U.S. Senate and becomes law will also play a major role in the regulation of social media sites and online platforms. If the KIDS Act does not become law, perhaps more states will enact laws like Illinois’ Children’s Social Media Safety Act. This, however, could pose challenges if each state has different regulations and requirements for online platforms and there is not at least a baseline protection in place.

The legislation passed and proposed and the lawsuits against major social media companies suggest a trend towards more regulation to protect children online. As more information about the impacts of online and social media use on children are revealed, there will likely be more regulation needed in the future.

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Maura Heneghan is a second-year law student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law. During her 1L summer, she was an extern for Justice Debra Walker. She looks forward to serving as the President of the Energy & Environmental Law Society during her 2L year and serving as a member on the Journal of Law, Technology & Policy. Maura can be contacted at maurakh2@illinois.edu.

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1. Michelle Faverio & Olivia Sidoti, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025, Pew Research Center (Dec. 9, 2025), https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/. 
2. Id. 
3. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA”), Federal Trade Commission, https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-coppa.
4. Kids Online Safety Act, S. 1748, 119th Cong. (2025-26).
5. KIDS Act, H.R. 7757, 119th Cong. (2025-26).
6. Jody Godoy, US House Passes Youth Online Safety Legislation, Reuters (June 29, 2026), https://www.reuters.com/world/us-house-passes-youth-online-safety-legislation-2026-06-29/. 
7. H.R. 7757, 119th Cong.
8. Lavlin Agrawal, et al., AI Regulation in U.S. States: Lessons Learned and Key Takeaways, Communications of the ACM (May 19, 2026), https://cacm.acm.org/research/ai-regulation-in-u-s-states-lessons-learned-and-key-takeaways/.
9. Joseph Ataman, France Becomes the First EU Country to Ban Social Media for Children, CNN (July 21, 2026), https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/21/world/france-becomes-the-first-eu-country-to-ban-social-media-for-children.
10. Associated Press, Britain is banning children from using social media. Here's what other countries are doing, PBS (June 15, 2026), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/britain-is-banning-children-from-using-social-media-heres-what-other-countries-are-doing.
11. Id.
12. Ben Szalinski, Pritzker Signs Law Regulating How Social Media Platforms Interact with Children, Capitol News Illinois (July 31, 2026), https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/pritzker-signs-law-regulating-how-social-media-platforms-interact-with-children/.
13. Id.
14. Kaitlyn Huamani & Barbara Ortutay, Jury finds Instagram and YouTube Liable in a Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial, The Associated Press (Mar. 25, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/social-media-addiction-trial-la-5e54075023d837ccdc76c4ca512e925d.
15. Kaitlyn Huamani, YouTube joins Meta in Appealing a Jury Verdict that Faulted them for Users’ Social Media Addiction, The Associated Press (July 15, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/youtube-verdict-appeal-social-media-addiction-trial-97ef05e5492888240cbf4ccbb0fc6777. 
16. Kali Hays, Nardine Saad & Regan Morris, Campaigners Welcome Meta and YouTube’s Defeat in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial, BBC (Mar. 26, 2026), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c747x7gz249o.
17. Huamani & Ortutay, supra note 14.
18. Morgan Lee, New Mexico Jury says Meta Harms Children’s Mental Health and Safety, Violating State Law, The Associated Press (Mar. 25, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/meta-facebook-new-mexico-trial-28eabd8ec5f58c1d1ecddc21bb107de7.