by Alessandra Carisio
It's now well established that social media is attractive, especially among minors, who often have multiple accounts and access them very early, almost always before the legal age. This often surprises and frightens parents, especially those who, despite not being very familiar with these social media platforms, perceive their child's undeniable influence on their child's behavior.
In this regard, the most recent literature on the subject has now confirmed that prolonged use of social media by minors can give rise to neuropsychiatric problems. In this regard, a very recent book by the American sociologist Jonathan Haidt, "The Anxious Generation: How Social Media Has Ruined Our ChildrenIn this book the author outlines the fundamental damages to childhood that can be identified in social deprivation, sleep deprivation, fragmentation of attention e dependenceAll these problems are exacerbated when minors are exposed to the harmful stimuli of social media: the lack of a mature prefrontal cortex makes these individuals more vulnerable, exposing them to serious psychological and physical consequences. What Haidt denounces in this article is supported by current scientific literature, which has even gone so far as to equate social media addiction with addiction to substances now commonly considered extremely harmful to health, such as alcohol, cigarettes, and narcotics.
It is precisely from this growing awareness that the concern of a group of Italian parents represented by the Italian Parents Movement – MOIGE arises, who have turned to the Ambrosio & Commodo firm to start the first class action in Italy against the web giants, Meta and TikTok. A lawsuit was therefore launchedclass action for an injunction, with the aim of obtaining a judicial order requiring the main social media platforms to adopt concrete measures to prevent or limit the harmful effects associated with their use.
But what are, in concrete terms, the requests made to the Judge? The conduct invoked is divided into three distinct questions, aimed at outlining similar behavioral obligations for the defendant platforms. First, they must stop accepting users on social media without first verifying their age. Second, they must put an end to the use of algorithmic manipulation tools that lead minors to spend significant—often excessive—time on these platforms. Finally, they must ensure that Meta and TikTok take steps to inform users of the dangers and risks posed by the use of social media for minors' health.
The primary focus of the action is therefore to establish effective controls over registration on these platforms, which currently consists of a mere self-declaration by users, which allows minors to use them, often without their parents' knowledge. Even parents who are aware of their minor child's presence on social media often find themselves faced with a tool they are unfamiliar with, which, in addition to harboring content-related issues, also causes permanent neuropsychiatric damage. This is precisely where the demand for transparency from platforms comes in, informing users—whether young people or parents of minors—of the risks associated with using social media, a product harmful to their health.
As can be seen from the order of requests made, the aim of the class action It's not just about preventing minors from accessing social media, but it's also been the first time we've addressed an equally important aspect: inhibiting the increasing use of sophisticated, additive algorithmic tools designed to create a dependency on these platforms in users, especially young people. Users of these platforms will be well aware of what's meant when they talk about algorithms, infinite scrolling, and the platform interface. What's not always clear, however, is the power of these systems to subtly trigger real addiction dynamics, deliberately created by Meta and TikTok to increase user usage time. This problem is exacerbated when users are young and therefore not only less aware but also more susceptible to influence due to neuropsychiatric developmental issues. These mechanisms push young users to seek increasingly rapid and rewarding stimulation.
This situation becomes extremely worrying when you look at the numbers we are talking about.
The number of underage users of these platforms is sufficient to demonstrate the extent of this phenomenon and the need to intervene.
The spirit that animates this class action It is not about demonizing new technologies, but about regulating them, in compliance with current laws, in order to ensure safe use especially for the most impressionable subjects such as minors. This is also found in the very recent Italian law on artificial intelligence (Law 132/2025) which reiterates that the use of these new technologies must nevertheless move within a "anthropocentric dimension" and therefore does not promote a risk or be detrimental to users and their health. Still on the topic of AI and chatbots, undoubtedly the new technological front, it's worth highlighting the strong opinion of the Italian Data Protection Authority, Agostino Ghiglia, who provocatively questions the limits of regularizing certain technological systems and when the only logical solution is a complete block. Although the topic of artificial intelligence is not at the heart of the initiative, the common threads are clear. The age of users of these platforms must be effectively verified, and at the same time, all those additive algorithmic systems harmful to the health of teenagers over 13 and young adults, i.e., those who can legally maintain a social media profile, must be eliminated.
If you want to learn more about this initiative, visit the dedicated website: www.classactionsocial.it.