Blumenthal Statement on Verdict in Landmark Social Media Addition Trial Finding Meta, YouTube Liable

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement today after a jury in Los Angeles determined that Meta and YouTube had designed their products to be addictive and had caused immense harm to the plaintiff as a child and teen:

"This verdict is the beginning of real justice for parents across the country that have suffered and faced heartbreaking loss from Big Tech's greed. It is also powerful proof that the Kids Online Safety Act-to provide accountability and protections for all young people in America-is urgently needed. I would urge any member of Congress that continues to do Mark Zuckerberg's bidding to look at this verdict and their conscience. It's time to enact the Kids Online Safety Act into law."

Blumenthal is the author of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

Blumenthal and Blackburn first introduced KOSA in February 2022, following reporting by the Wall Street Journal and after spearheading a series of five subcommittee hearings with social media companies and advocates on the repeated failures by tech giants to protect kids on their platforms. KOSA will require platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings by default, force platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, provide parents and educators new controls to help protect children, and require independent audits and research into social media companies.

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1. KOSA