Today’s case has been compared to the legal fight against “big tobacco” in the 20th century.

Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, massive American tobacco firms, were accused of hiding information about the harms of cigarettes. 

The companies reached a $206bn master settlement with more than 40 US states in 1998 that led to an agreement to stop marketing to minors, according to the New York Times. 

Strict tobacco regulations and a decline in smoking followed.

Why more victories may be needed for change

Though today’s verdict is a start, legal experts, also quoted by the NY Times, think there is a “long road ahead” in terms of achieving similar change to protect the young from social media.

“This decision is quite significant,” said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a centre-right thinktank, and expert on media law. 

He added more legal wins might be needed to force big tech and social media giants to change.

Calvert told the NY Times: “If there are a series of verdicts for plaintiffs, it will force the defendants to reconsider how they design social media platforms and how they deliver content to minors.”

And we could get those extra wins – more than 1,600 plaintiffs, including over 350 families and over 250 school districts, accuse the companies of designing addictive products that have harmed young users.

However, Meta and Google have both already indicated they will appeal against today’s outcome.

Could UK and US follow growing global trend?

As we touched on earlier in our 19.07 post about growing calls in the UK for an under-16s social media ban, there is mounting concern in countries around the world about online harms.

Australia brought in its ban in December. 

Watch: How Aussie teens are coping with ban

Malaysia, Spain and Denmark are considering similar rules.

In 2024, the US Surgeon General called for adding warning labels to social media explaining that the platforms were associated with mental health harms for adolescents, according to the NY Times.

But most efforts to regulate social media in the US have, so far, failed, the NY Times points out.

So, as Calvert says above, it may be that more legal battles need to go the way of social media’s sceptics.