WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Jillian Michaels urged parents to restrict children’s online access and demand safer social media algorithms.
  • Psychology researcher Jean Twenge linked heavy social media use with increases of 40% or 50% in depression in some studies.
  • Meta agreed to pay as much as $17.1 billion and restrict teen accounts while denying allegations that its platforms were designed to addict children.
  • “Toxic 2: A Generation on the Brink” examines screen time, mental health and excessive medical treatment affecting children.

Fitness trainer, media personality, health advocate and bestselling author Jillian Michaels is calling on parents to push back against social media companies over platforms she says expose children to addictive algorithms and troubling content. She also wants families to impose firm limits on children’s online activities.

Michaels delivered the warning during an appearance on “The Faulkner Focus” while promoting her Fox Nation documentary, “Toxic 2: A Generation on the Brink.” The program examines concerns surrounding children’s screen use, mental health and excessive medical treatment.

Her advice begins with direct parental supervision at home. “You have to do everything you can,” Michaels said.

“And that means putting parental controls on your kid's phone, period. Take the phone away at night, limit the sites that they can access, have communications with them regularly about the content that they're seeing online. But you also have to be realistic about what they're going to do when they're not with you.”

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That concern about what happens beyond a parent’s immediate supervision drives Michaels’ call for wider action. She argues that families cannot address the problem by setting household rules alone and must also demand changes from the companies operating social media platforms.

“This is the part where we also have to continue putting pressure on the social media companies to make their algorithms safer for kids,” she said. “They created an addictive product, they know it, and we need to keep the pressure on.”

“Toxic 2: A Generation on the Brink” explores what Michaels describes as risks confronting children in the modern age. Those concerns include excessive screen time, mental health problems and what the documentary presents as excessive medical treatment.

“The truth is, a lot of parents probably don't realize the scale of what kids are dealing with today,” Michaels said. “From day one, the fragile little bodies and brains of the tiniest and most vulnerable among us are being targeted, treated and toxified from all angles.”

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Several experts appear alongside Michaels in the documentary, including psychology researcher Jean Twenge. Twenge argues that people who begin using smartphones at an early age are more likely to encounter mental health problems later in life.

“In some of the best design studies, the heaviest users of social media are about twice as likely to be depressed as lighter non-users,” Twenge said. “Even in other studies, you see at least often a 40% or a 50% increase in depression from not using social media to being a heavy user of social media.”

Twenge also said younger generations already have language for describing technology’s damaging potential. “Gen Z and Gen Alpha know how bad these technologies can be for them,” she said.

“They're the ones who came up with phrases like 'chronically online,' which make it sound like a disease, 'brain rot,' that it's bad for your attention span and your focus.” Her remarks connect the documentary’s warnings with phrases young people themselves use when discussing heavy internet use.

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Social media companies have faced mounting pressure for regulation and accountability over the potential effects of their platforms. In August, Meta agreed to pay as much as $17.1 billion and place restrictions on teen accounts to settle claims involving Facebook and Instagram.

The claims alleged that Meta designed the platforms to addict children and misled the public about their safety. Meta denied those allegations.

The scrutiny has also reached the courtroom. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg left a Los Angeles courthouse after testifying on Feb. 18, 2026, in a trial involving allegations that Meta and Google’s YouTube harmed children’s mental health through addictive platforms.

Michaels is urging parents to act inside their homes while continuing to challenge the companies controlling the platforms their children use.

Are you feeling overwhelmed or hopeless right now? Have you been withdrawing from people or activities you usually enjoy? Are you having thoughts about hurting yourself, or feeling like things will never improve?

You do not have to handle those feelings alone. Support is available, and talking to someone can make a difference. You can reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or by chatting online at 988lifeline.org. Trained counselors are available 24 hours a day to listen and help.

If you believe someone is in immediate danger, call emergency services right away. Even a small step, like reaching out to a trusted friend, family member, or professional, can help create a path forward.