Although the total damages—$6 million in the California cases and $375 million against Meta in the New Mexico case—amount to little more than pocket change for these tech giants, this is not the first time either company has been sued, and it most likely will not be the last. When you are a global giant, there is always someone who will come after you, whether for good or bad reasons.

Of course, last week’s rulings put both Meta and YouTube in a lose-lose position, as they will almost certainly open the door for pending lawsuits to leverage these outcomes and may even encourage new lawsuits to be filed.

How will advertisers react to the judgments?

So now what? Will social networks adjust their algorithms to be less harmful to youth?  Will advertisers finally take a stand to protect children from the toxic and addictive behaviour that seems to be easily found on social networks?