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The debate over children’s use of social media hit a new inflection point this week.
On Wednesday, Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, reached a landmark settlement with the vast majority of US states and territories, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties and make significant changes to its products to resolve claims that the tech giant endangered children with addictive social media platforms.
Though $17 billion is a fraction of the $200 billion the plaintiffs sought, the settlement has been seen as a major capitulation for Meta, which agreed to limit how much time teenagers can spend on its platforms and ban features linked to mental health issues.
The agreement could prove a major inflection point for the social media sector, with big implications for its core business model — selling engagement to advertisers — and the $1.3 trillion global marketing industry that has come to depend on it.
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Meta’s lawyers told press the settlement would require other social media companies, like TikTok and YouTube, to adopt similar policies. And governments around the world could seize on the agreement to seek comparable concessions. Already, the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia have implemented or announced plans to implement social media bans for users under 16, while similar legislation has been debated in France and Spain.
For fashion and beauty marketers, the development threatens to complicate — or even eliminate — a major channel for reaching and recruiting young customers. Teenagers are some of the industry’s most powerful content creators, with some amassing followings in the millions before they’ve even graduated high school. And younger generations’ embrace of social media has also made them more voracious consumers.
In June, BoF’s Haley Crawford examined how brands can adapt to social media bans by reaching teens in person at popular spots like Sephora or Starbucks, or tapping Reddit forums and Discord channels. But even if outright bans fail to stick, one thing’s for sure: Social media marketers face roadblocks ahead. Proceed with caution.
