Milan Court Hears Parents' Suit Against Meta, TikTok Over Minors' Social Media Access

An Italian parents' group held the first hearing in a Milan business court class action against Meta and TikTok on May 14, seeking stronger age verification, removal of manipulative algorithms, and warnings on harms to ~3.5 million children aged 7-14 active online. This escalates from Ireland's Coimisiún na Meán launching two DSA probes on May 5 into Instagram and Facebook's 'dark patterns' and recommender systems that may expose children to harm, risking fines up to 6% of global turnover. EU Commission President von der Leyen announced on May 12 plans to regulate addictive features like endless scrolling and probe Meta's 13+ age enforcement, with META shares falling 1.38% to ~$602.