A landmark jury decision in California is sending shockwaves through the global tech industry, and its ripple effects are now being felt in Costa Rica, where momentum is building for stricter controls on children’s use of social media. This week, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for contributing to a young woman’s social media addiction and related mental health harm.
The case, considered the first of its kind to go to trial, concluded that the platforms were negligently designed and failed to adequately warn users about their risks. The plaintiff, who began using the platforms as a child, was awarded millions in damages after linking her compulsive use to depression, anxiety, and self-harm.
Legal experts say the ruling could open the door to thousands of similar lawsuits and potentially reshape how governments regulate social media, especially when it comes to minors. The California verdict adds weight to growing international concerns that social media platforms are intentionally engineered to maximize engagement through features like autoplay, infinite scroll, and algorithm-driven feeds, tools critics argue can foster addictive behavior in young users.
The case is part of a broader legal wave involving more than a thousand plaintiffs, many of them families and school districts, all arguing that social media companies have played a role in a youth mental health crisis. Now, those same concerns are increasingly shaping public debate in Costa Rica.
In Costa Rica, teachers, parents, and mental health professionals are voicing growing support for limiting children’s access to social media. The debate has intensified in recent months as evidence mounts linking excessive screen time to developmental and psychological risks.
A proposed bill currently under discussion would prohibit children under 14 from creating social media accounts and require parental authorization for older teens. Educators across the country have expressed concern about declining attention spans, increased anxiety, and classroom disruptions tied to constant social media use. Parents, meanwhile, are increasingly calling for clearer safeguards and age verification requirements.
Experts from Costa Rica have warned that children’s brains are not fully equipped to process the intense stimuli found on social platforms, including exposure to harmful content and addictive engagement loops. Costa Rica already has legislation aimed at protecting minors online. For example, laws targeting grooming criminalize the use of digital platforms to exploit children and impose stricter penalties for online abuse.
However, current laws focus primarily on criminal behavior, not on the design of platforms themselves or the broader mental health impacts of social media use. That gap is now at the center of policy discussions. Despite growing support for restrictions, experts caution that any legislation must carefully balance child protection with fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and access to information.
Costa Rica has traditionally maintained an open internet environment with minimal content restrictions, making sweeping bans politically and legally complex. Some academics argue that education, parental involvement, and digital literacy should accompany any legal restrictions, rather than relying solely on outright bans.
The California verdict may prove to be a tipping point. As governments around the world explore stricter regulations, including outright bans for younger users, Costa Rica appears poised to follow suit, albeit cautiously. With public concern rising and legislative proposals already on the table, the country is entering a critical phase in defining how far it is willing to go to protect children in the digital age.
If the momentum continues, Costa Rica could soon join a growing list of nations moving to fundamentally reshape how, and whether, children engage with social media.
