Online Safety

Online safety means protecting yourself and your family from harm when using the internet, apps, games and connected devices.

Internet safety often brings passwords, hackers and scams to mind, but digital safety also involves how products are designed and who they allow into your life.

Lawsuits claim that apps and platforms harm users through endless-scroll features, chat tools that let adults contact minors and betting promotions that encourage continued gambling. AI chatbots also raise additional concerns about how they respond when a teen shares distress or thoughts of self-harm.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory concluded that there was not enough evidence to say social media was sufficiently safe for children and teens.

When assessing your family’s online safety, consider how a product affects daily life, who can make contact and what happens when someone tries to stop using it. Those questions can help you identify concerns that passwords and privacy settings alone may not address.

Social media addiction involves difficulty controlling social media use despite negative consequences. Problematic use is associated with depression, anxiety and stress.

You may notice your child spending hours on an app, struggling to put the phone down or returning whenever a notification appears. These are among the effects of social media described in families’ lawsuits, although heavy use alone does not establish what caused a child’s condition.

Lawsuits allege companies deliberately used endless scrolling, autoplay, constant alerts and beauty filters to keep young users hooked, despite knowing about potential harm. Concerns about social media and teenagers include how its features interact with young people’s developing self-image and their ability to disengage.

Thousands of families have sued. As of Nov. 1, 2026, there were 4,309 federal cases grouped in Northern California’s MDL 3047 for coordinated pretrial review. You do not have to live in California to bring a claim, and the appropriate filing court depends on your circumstances.

In March 2026, the first California state-court addiction trial ended with a $6 million verdict against Meta and Google. The plaintiff, Kaley GM, said social media was an obsession that caused depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia. Both companies appealed.

Social media harm statistics can be useful to understand addiction and how children use social media, but start with what you notice at home. Ask about distressing content, unwanted contact and cyberbullying, and make those conversations part of protecting your family from social media harm.

Your child may be playing a game with friends while also receiving messages from people you have never met. Online predators can approach children through games and chat apps, pretend to share their interests and move conversations to another platform after establishing a connection. What begins as friendly attention can become pressure to send explicit images, keep secrets or meet in person.

Ask about the people behind the usernames, including anyone offering gifts or suggesting a private conversation elsewhere. When online contact leads to in-person assault, families may also need support addressing sexual abuse.

Newer tools are moving faster than safety rules, and the first lawsuits are already in court. AI companions, image generators and small tracking devices raise safety questions at the center of these lawsuits.

The concerns range from a teenager’s emotional dependence on a chatbot to sexual images created without permission and trackers hidden in someone’s belongings. Safety protections need to address how these products affect people beyond their intended use.

Online harm can also mean stolen personal information, money lost to a scam or savings tied up in a failed cryptocurrency platform. Whether you’re responding to a breach notice or an unexpected request for payment, start with the issue you’re facing:

If you’ve lost money to a scam, contact the bank or payment service you used promptly and ask whether the transaction can be reversed.

You may notice warning signs before you know someone is being harmed: A child becomes unusually private about a chat, a loved one starts borrowing money or your phone warns that an unfamiliar tracker is traveling with you.

These signs deserve attention, even when the explanation isn’t clear. Watch for:

A single change doesn’t establish what’s wrong, and a tracking alert can have an innocent explanation, such as a borrowed item. Take the concern seriously without jumping to conclusions or blaming someone.

If something feels wrong, focus on what to do when someone is being harmed online.

Learning how to stay safe online starts with the settings you choose and the conversations you keep having.

Review these choices together as your child grows and their apps change. Managing settings works best alongside ongoing involvement.

Families and young adults are taking companies to court over design choices they say contributed to addiction, exploitation and other serious harm. Their cases challenge whether the companies did enough to protect the people using their products.

There are deadlines to file lawsuits that vary by state. Make sure you talk to a lawyer sooner rather than later to find out what deadlines apply to your situation.