Parents push Congress to act on kids' online safety after juries find Meta and YouTube liable for harm

Jury verdicts finding Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent have intensified legal and political pressure on Big Tech, prompting families to lobby Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The rulings — including a New Mexico verdict that ordered Meta to pay $345 million and an unprecedented Los Angeles finding of negligence in March — raise the prospect of higher regulatory and litigation costs for Meta, which says it will appeal. Advocates (about 70 parents) are pushing a Senate-backed KOSA with 74 cosponsors that would impose a “duty of care” requiring platforms to tailor products for children; the bill is stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. The combination of mounting legal liabilities and renewed legislative risk increases near-term downside risk to Meta’s outlook and could pressure the stock until rulings are resolved or the regulatory path becomes clearer.