Scientists Show How to Make Social Media Safer for Teens

Two major court victories this week proved what parents have suspected all along: social media platforms were deliberately designed to addict children.

A California jury held Google and Meta responsible for a woman's depression and anxiety caused by using Instagram and YouTube as a child. Days earlier, a New Mexico jury ruled Meta violates state laws protecting children's mental health. Both juries agreed the platforms were intentionally built to be addictive.

But the real breakthrough isn't happening in courtrooms. Scientists have identified exactly which design features hijack young brains and how to fix them.

Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at UC San Francisco, studied how 11 and 12-year-olds actually use social media. Around 16% said they tried but couldn't use it less. Nearly a quarter spent hours thinking about their apps even when not using them.

"These are symptoms that mirror addiction to substances," Nagata says. Kids showed withdrawal, impaired functioning, and loss of control over their use.

The consequences aren't minor. Children with compulsive social media use showed higher rates of depression, attention problems, and behavioral issues one year later. They also faced increased risk of suicidal behaviors, sleep problems, and experimentation with drugs and alcohol.

The Bright Side

Researchers know exactly what needs to change. The fixes are surprisingly straightforward.

Notifications are the biggest culprit, especially alerts about likes and dislikes. Mitch Prinstein, who studies technology and brain development at UNC Chapel Hill, says teens have hypersensitive social brains but weak impulse control. "It's just too hard for adolescent brains to resist," he explains.

Limiting notifications during bedtime and school hours would immediately improve sleep and mental health. Restricting infinite scroll and personalized feeds would reduce compulsive use. Setting default privacy so companies can't harvest kids' data would stop the algorithmic rabbit holes that keep them hooked for hours.

Age verification actually matters too. Two-thirds of 11 and 12-year-olds already have social media accounts even though the minimum age is 13. "Anyone right now can put in a fake date of birth and get access," Nagata notes.

Some platforms have added time limits and the option to turn off notifications. But researchers say minors need stronger protections than adults because their brains are still developing.

The Kids Online Safety Act, which passed the Senate in 2024, includes many of these design changes but remains stalled in the House.

Parents would be shocked by what appears in children's feeds, Prinstein says: sexualized content, promotion of self-harm and eating disorders, and contact from predators. Better parental controls could help families monitor what kids actually see.

The science is clear, the solutions are ready, and courts are starting to demand action.