News

This week’s verdicts against Meta and YouTube in landmark social media trials in the US underscore the real harms users link to social media design – including addiction, lasting mental health impacts, and exposure to predators – and highlight the need for these companies to overhaul design choices that prioritize engagement over safety.

As the 2025-2026 legislative session in Minnesota progresses, KGI is encouraged by support in both the State House and Senate for legislation promoting algorithmic feeds that prioritize users’ long-term interests over short-term attention maximization.

OpenAI confirmed on March 6 that it is delaying the rollout of “adult mode” in ChatGPT, a feature that would give verified adults access to less-restricted content. The company first announced plans to begin age-gating users last year but has now pushed back the launch twice. Segregating adult users from minors could help in some of OpenAI’s legal and revenue challenges, but nailing the technology may not be easy.

In March 2026, KGI welcomed Amy Winecoff as Senior Technologist. Amy provides technical leadership across KGI’s portfolio, with a specific focus on AI and platform governance.

Meta and YouTube are accused of intentionally designing addictive features that hooked a now-20-year-old woman as a child and harmed her mental health. The lawsuit brought by “Kaley” and her mother is the first of more than 1,500 similar lawsuits to go to trial.

The European Commission is for the first time tackling the addictiveness of social media in a fight against TikTok that may set new design standards for the world’s most popular apps.

Online age assurance requirements are reshaping how people access digital services worldwide. KGI’s latest report examines how these systems work and the tradeoffs inherent in their deployment.

Provisions in a new bill introduced in Alabama would advance transparency and user control in algorithmic feeds on social media platforms, reflecting key recommendations from KGI’s Better Feeds guidelines. The legislation signals a shift beyond existing “addictive feeds” approaches toward algorithms designed to promote long-term user value.

State lawmakers across the political spectrum are once again preparing to push for social media regulations aimed at protecting kids, despite a series of court rulings that have halted the implementation of new laws.

The bills filed so far for this year’s legislative sessions include a range of proposals, including requiring age verification and parental permission and banning addictive feeds.

In this episode, Anush and Jasper are joined by Dr. Alissa Cooper, Executive Director of the Knight-Georgetown Institute, to discuss KGI’s recent submissions to competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic regarding Google’s search monopoly.

The Knight-Georgetown Institute unveiled model legislation for state lawmakers seeking to regulate social media algorithms without requiring a default to old-school chronological feeds.

This Tech Policy Press podcast episode was recorded in Barcelona at this year’s Mozilla Festival, with an in-depth conversation on why researcher access to public platform data matters more than ever. TPP’s Justin Hendrix speaks with Peter Chapman, LK Selig, and Brandi Geurkink to unpack the current state of research access to public platform data and to discuss KGI’s new report “Better Access: Data for the Common Good.”