Photos show reactions after juries fault social media for harming kids

In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury on Tuesday determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Parents of children who were victims of social media platforms hug outside Los Superior Courthouse after to listening to closing arguments Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FILE - A YouTube sign is shown near the company's headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)

Tony Roberts, father of late Englyn Roberts, 14, is surrounded by other parents of child victims of social media platforms, as he speaks to the media outside Los Angeles Superior Court at United States Courthouse on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FILE - External view of the Google building in Chelsea on Thursday, Oct. 09, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur, File)

Lori Schott, second from right, holds up a photo of her daughter Annalee Schott, beside others after the verdict in a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children at Los Angeles Superior Court, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/William Liang)

FILE - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives for a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)

FILE - A car passes Facebook's new Meta logo on a sign at the company headquarters on Oct. 28, 2021, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)

Linda Singer, an attorney representing the state, and Donald Migliori, attorney with the law firm MotleyRice celebrate after the jury reached a verdict against Meta for violated state consumer protection laws and ordering the social media company to pay $375 million in damages to the state, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Nathan Burton/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

Mary Rodee holds a photo of her son Riley after the verdict in a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children at Los Angeles Superior Court, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Victoria Hinks holds up a picture of her late daughter Alexandria "Owl" Hinks, who was a victim of social media platforms, outside the Spring Street Courthouse, Los Angeles Superior Court, in Los Angeles, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Lori Schott, center, is embraced as she holds up a photo of her daughter Annalee Schott, after the verdict in a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children at Los Angeles Superior Court, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/William Liang)

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators are investigating Snapchat over concerns the platform isn't doing enough to protect kids and exposing them to risks such as increased vulnerability to child predators or recruitment by criminals.

The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said Thursday it was opening a formal investigation into Snapchat under the bloc's sweeping rule book known as the Digital Services Act that's designed to protect internet users.

The European Commission said that Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 to use the platform but it suspected that the company's “age assurance” system is “insufficient” at keeping them off.

Regulators said the system is also not properly checking whether a user is under 17, which it needs to do in order to give them an “age appropriate” experience. They also worried that age checking systems aren’t preventing adults from posing as minors.

The commission suspects Snapchat isn't doing enough to protect minors from being contacted by “users with harmful intent, such as sexual exploitation or recruitment for criminal activities.”

Snapchat's systems also aren't good enough at preventing underage users from seeing information about illegal or restricted products like drugs, vapes or alcohol.

Snapchat “appears to have overlooked” the DSA’s “high safety standards for all users,” said Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

The investigation will scrutinize Snapchat’s compliance with EU legislation, she said.

Snapchat has “fully cooperated” with the Commission by “engaging proactively, transparently and working in good faith to meet the DSA’s high safety standards - and we will continue to do so throughout this investigation,” the company said in a statement.

User safety and well-being is a “top priority” and the platform is designed with “privacy and safety built in from the start, including additional protection for teens,” it said.

The probe adds to pressure that social media companies are facing on both sides of the Atlantic over the welfare of young people. On Wednesday, a California jury awarded millions of dollars in damages to a 20-year-old woman after deciding that Meta and YouTube designed their platforms to hook young users without concern for their well being.

Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. and TikTok were also included in the lawsuit but settled for undisclosed sums before the trial.

A day earlier, a New Mexico jury handed a $375 million penalty to Meta after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Meanwhile, the EU accused TikTok earlier this year of breaching the DSA with “addictive design” features that lead to compulsive use by children, and has been investigating Facebook and Instagram since 2024 over child protection shortcomings.

Also Thursday, Brussels accused four of the world's biggest pornographic websites, Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos, of failing to protect children from adult content on their websites, following an investigation opened last year.

The Digital Services Act requires internet companies and online platforms to do more to protect European users from things like harmful content and suspect merchandise, or risk hefty fines worth up to 6% of annual revenue.

Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos did not respond to requests for comment.

In preliminary findings, regulators said the site operators failed to “diligently identify and assess” risks to children and didn't use effective measures to stop them from accessing their services.

“Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services,” Virkkunen said.

The porn sites now have chance to respond to the accusations before the commission issues a final decision.

FILE- This Aug. 9, 2017, file photo shows the Youtube, left, and Snapchat apps on a mobile device in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)