Two landmark cases centered around children and their use of social media are shining a spotlight on the ongoing parental debate over how much time kids and teens should be spending on those platforms.

On March 25, a Los Angeles jury found Meta — the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — and the Google-owned video platform YouTube negligent for designing apps that harmed kids by leading them to develop social media addictions. The jury awarded the plaintiffs in that case $6 million in damages, with Meta responsible for paying $4.2 million and YouTube $1.8 million.

In the LA case, the lawsuit, brought by a 20-year-old woman identified as “Kaley” and her mother, alleged major social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive. The suit claimed features like auto-scrolling got Kaley addicted to the platforms, ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.

After the verdict, Meta said in a statement to ABC News, “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”

A Google spokesperson told ABC News the company disagreed with the verdict and also planned to appeal.

The day prior, in New Mexico, Meta was found liable for endangering children and misleading users about the safety of its platforms and ordered to pay $375 million in civil penalties.

In that trial, prosecutors alleged Meta violated state protection laws, knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms.

In a statement following that verdict, Meta told ABC News it disagreed with the verdict and would appeal.

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content,” the statement read in part.

Sarah Domoff, a clinical child psychologist and a University at Albany Department of Psychology assistant professor, told ABC News that both cases have takeaways for parents and families.

“These lawsuits may bring forth opportunities for changes at the tech company level that would make it more conducive for families, for children, for teens, to be able to use social media in healthier ways, so that so much of the burden isn’t on the users to figure out how to navigate this,” Domoff said.

Read on for what parents should know about kids and social media use.

What is social media addiction?

Extended social media use can lead to addictive behaviors in some children, according to Jennifer Margaret Katzenstein, Ph.D., director of psychology, neuropsychology, and social work and director of the Center for Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

“We know that our usage of electronic devices, software platforms — including social media — do reinforce the dopamine pathways in the brain,” Katzenstein said. “When those pathways are reinforced and dopamine continues to be released as a neural transmitter in the brain, that can lead to more usage, and then that can lead to addiction.”

Domoff added that the changes in one’s brain are influenced by external factors as well. 

“There are features of social media that make it really hard for us to reduce our use and can make it compulsive or create problems for youth and adults,” she said.

Is YouTube considered social media?

YouTube’s parent company Google has argued that it does not consider YouTube a social media platform.

In a March 25 statement, in response to the Los Angeles verdict against Google and Meta, Google spokesperson José Castañeda told ABC News, “We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal. This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

Both Domoff and Katzenstein, however, say apps and sites like YouTube that don’t appear to be traditional social networks can, in their opinion, still be considered a type of social media.

“Social media includes those classic social networking sites, which was the term we used to use, like Facebook and Instagram, but also those that have short-form videos, as well as those that may be more entertainment-based but have social elements,” Domoff said. “So, social gaming, like a lot of the gaming apps, will be considered social media, as well as YouTube.”

Katzenstein said the definition of social media has “definitely expanded” over the years and continues to evolve as new apps and sites are created.

“It’s important for parents to know that youth typically use multiple platforms, and that’s also what makes it really challenging to navigate that and to have those conversations [about them],” she said.

What are the symptoms of social media addiction?

While the American Academy of Pediatrics does not use the term “social media addiction,” it says there are symptoms to watch for in kids to help determine if their social media use is becoming problematic.

According to the AAP, for children, internet and social media use becomes problematic “if it crowds out other important activities such as sleep and exercise, even when the user does not experience other negative outcomes associated with substance addiction such as withdrawal.”

Specifically, the AAP points to three symptoms to watch for in kids:

• Kids are avoiding in-person social connections to be online. 
• Kids are getting lower grades because of internet or social media overuse.
• Kids are emotionally withdrawn because of negative experiences online.

How much social media use do experts recommend for kids?

To help parents figure out how to help their children draw boundaries around social media, the AAP suggests parents consider the five C’s of media use:

• Their child, including their individual personality and how social media affects them
• The content they consume, including its quality and the amount of “violence, rude role-modeling, unrealistic beauty standards or commercialism” they might encounter
• Ways to calm down, specifically strategies for managing “strong emotions” without social media
• Whether or not social media is crowding out a child’s activities and quality family time
• Prioritizing ongoing communication with their child, particularly keeping the door open for conversations about social media and building their digital literacy.

Instead of focusing on a specific number of hours of screen time or how much social media a child uses, the AAP recommends parents and caregivers look at the “quality of interactions.” Families can also set up shared periods of time where children and adults take screen-free and social media breaks together, such as during meals.

Domoff recommends the AAP guidelines to families herself.

“What I have parents [and teens] think about is, ‘How much time do we need to make sure we get for sleep, for school, for physical activity, for socializing, all those things that are so critical for development and for wellbeing and for emotional regulation?'” Domoff said. “If we think of an ideal day, with all of those components in place, there really isn’t a whole lot of time, not more than maybe an hour or two, where entertainment media can be used without it getting in the way of other things.”

What age do experts recommend starting social media?

Experts don’t have a set age recommendation when it comes to letting children start using social media or increasing screen time.

Meta’s platforms and YouTube require users to at least be 13 years old, according to their respective terms of service.

“Some folks have argued for social media to not be used by youth under 13. Some … say 16,” Domoff said. “Part of the challenge is there are individual differences that some older children and young teens may be able to be safe online.”

Katzenstein said when it comes to the age question, parents should make sure they’re having conversations with their kids first about online safety and digital citizenship, first and foremost.

“It’s important not to just let our kids loose at that age when they suddenly have access to these sites. It’s really about knowing your child and knowing what they’re going to be able to be trusted with,” Katzenstein said. “Developmentally, what can they manage? And how much time per day are they spending on that device? So setting forth clear expectations about the amount of time and usage of devices and social media.”

The AAP also recommends parents and caregivers set up family media plans that both adults and children follow, which take routines and values into consideration.