Tech Giants Face Child Safety Suits as AI Enters Classrooms

Snap confidentially settled a case this week claiming its technology caused severe psychological distress to two teenage users, days before a scheduled Los Angeles trial, according to CNBC.

Meta, TikTok and YouTube had previously settled with the plaintiffs in the same suit. Joseph McNally, director of emerging litigation at McNicholas & McNicholas and a former acting U.S. attorney, said the settlements reflect tech companies trying to turn a corner after legal challenges and reputational damage to their products.

The case is one of several tied to a social media personal injury trial that Meta and YouTube lost earlier this year, with more trials slated to begin in March. A federal case involving Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube alongside nationwide school districts and state attorneys general also continues. In August, Meta agreed to pay nearly $17 billion to settle with a group of state attorneys general in a child mental health case.

Google faces a separate new lawsuit. Parents of a 13-year-old girl in North Carolina, identified in court filings as Emma, sued Google in California state court on November 2, according to Le Monde. The complaint alleges she used Google's AI-powered search on a school-issued Chromebook to discuss suicide methods and plan a funeral over several months, despite having no prior history of mental illness. The school's monitoring software flagged a document titled "Funeral" on March 17 and alerted her parents; her mother then saw Emma writing a farewell letter in real time, and her father intervened. Emma now attends therapy weekly.

The lawsuit is the first known case accusing Google of negligence related to AI integrations on Chromebooks. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told AFP the company is reviewing the claims and takes them seriously, adding that AI mode includes safeguards against self-harm. Andrew Liddell, one of the family's attorneys, countered that those safeguards were insufficient and said schools should turn search off until Google removes AI mode from search.

The dispute lands as Google pushes AI deeper into education. In August, Google enabled Gemini for many K-12 students using Google Classroom, and this week Google, TikTok and Meta each sued California to block a law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September that bars social media companies from providing addictive features to users under 16, effective January 1, 2027.

Developmental psychologist Kate Blocker, director of research and programs at the nonprofit Children and Screens, said products need broader systemic changes in tech design, particularly when children are using them, and that safety should be considered from the start rather than after harms emerge. Michele Neitz, a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, said the litigation shows tech companies anticipate more litigation risks than they did a decade ago. OpenAI faces several similar suits from state attorneys general, and Anthropic is planning to go public this month.

In delayed trading, Alphabet (GOOGL) shares were up 0.78% at $284.78, while Snap (SNAP) shares were down 2.55% at $4.96.