Bereaved Families Demand Stronger Online Protections for Kids

Bereaved families from both the US and UK gathered in New York City to protest outside Meta's offices, demanding stronger protections for children from the harms of social media—including suicide, dangerous online challenges, sextortion, and cyberbullying. Parents delivered an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg urging Meta to prevent dangerous content promotion, restrict predator contact, and respond more quickly to reports involving children. Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, joined the call for greater online safety, unveiling a memorial dedicated to children lost to social media harms and arguing that tech companies and governments must do more to protect young people. Several British families, who have lost children to incidents linked to social media, traveled to the US to join the protest and are engaged in lawsuits against platforms like TikTok for allegedly promoting dangerous content. In response, Meta highlighted new protections for teens on Instagram, with plans to expand these features to Facebook and Messenger, while the UK's communications regulator Ofcom has announced new regulations requiring sites to block children's access to harmful material and implement stricter age checks. Parents and advocates emphasize that their voices are growing stronger and that they will continue pressing tech companies and regulators until meaningful change is achieved.