Psychologist Jonathan Haidt discusses the landmark ruling holding Meta and YouTube guilty of harming the mental health of young people on ‘The Big Money Show.’
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and author of “The Anxious Generation,” says the growing concern about the impact of social media on children has reached a “tipping point.”
Speaking Thursday on FOX Business’ “The Big Money Show,” Haidt pointed to the highly-scrutinized social media experiment, citing internal Meta communications in which employees described Instagram as a “drug” and admitted they were “pushing it.”
“What we have learned is that the companies behaved in a really disgusting way,” said Haidt. “Congress created this problem, and now I’m very happy to see tweets and statements from senators and congressmen. [from] both parties saying, ‘We have to do something about this.’
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Jonathan Haidt at Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival at Spring Studios Oct. 10, 2025, New York, NY (Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Haidt said the jury’s latest decision could mark the start of a much larger wave of lawsuits.
“We believe there are literally millions of victims,” Haidt said. “… Hundreds of children died.”
“With millions of plaintiffs,” he warned, the financial consequences for tech companies could be huge.
“I think we’re looking at a huge case of karma coming to these companies,” Haidt said. “They have been able to exploit children for decades and now their actions are catching up with them.”
He pointed out that the problem was created in part by policy decisions that took decades.
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Social media apps on smartphone (Matt Cardy / Contributor / Getty Images)
Haidt pointed to laws like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects platforms from liability, and federal laws that allow companies to collect data from users who simply say they’re over 13.
However, public awareness is changing — driven in part by recent judge decisions and policy changes abroad, according to Haidt.
“We are at a turning point,” he said. “Now there is a global understanding that these things are not suitable for children.”
On Wednesday, a Los Angeles judge found Meta and Google guilty in a lawsuit accusing the companies of designing addictive products for new users, awarding the plaintiff $6 million.
Google and Meta both told FOX Business they plan to appeal the decision.
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Family members of the victims outside Los Angeles Superior Court after the jury’s verdict Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
In another case, a New Mexico judge on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled users about the safety of the platform and allegedly allowed the sexual exploitation of children.
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Meanwhile, Australia implemented a landmark law in December banning users under the age of 16 from holding social media accounts – one of the strictest online security measures in the world.
“We parents cannot deal with this alone,” said Haidt. “We all have the same battle with our children.”
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Louis Casiano and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
