United Kingdom, April 13 -- Meta has removed adverts by law firms seeking clients for future social media addiction cases from its social media platforms.

The tech giant - which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - has taken the action after recently losing two lawsuits relating to the issue, including a high-profile case in California where a young woman successfully sued both the firm and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media.

Meta said in a statement: "We will not allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful."

Emily Jeffcott, an attorney for Morgan and Morgan, one of the firms that had placed adverts, described the act as "another example of Meta trying to control ...