Tech Transparency Project\u2019s report shows whenever governments mull platform regulations, company recruits influencers to promote its safety features<\/p>\n
In July 2025, Meta gathered parenting influencers from all over Australia at a waterfront venue overlooking the Sydney Opera House. It was a camping-themed event and in many ways was like any other influencer affair. There were Instagram-branded tents to take pictures in, an Instagram-branded step-and-repeat, a custom-tote making station and Instagram-branded snacks and coffee cups.<\/p>\n
But this \u201cscreen smart\u201d event wasn\u2019t about the photo op.<\/p>\n
Meta was playing defense: the company had five months until the Australian government planned to enforce a new law that banned children under 16 from using social media platforms. The Silicon Valley-based firm told influencers that blanket bans on teens\u2019 use of social media weren\u2019t effective and recruited them to send a message to their hundreds of thousands of followers: Meta already had tools to help parents keep teens safe on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Since 2024, Meta has tapped an army of influencers to promote its safety tools for teens. A new report by the Tech Transparency Project, a digital advocacy group, shows that whenever a government began discussing social media regulations for teens, Meta started recruiting lifestyle, parenting and mental health creators to promote parental and other safety controls the company already offers, including its accounts for users between the ages of 13 and 17, which have more restrictions than regular accounts. Meta recruited influencers through events, like the one in Australia, and paid some of them for their advocacy by sponsoring posts, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Meta also found support from parent, advocacy and research groups that it supports financially in pushing back against teen bans or restrictions, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Meta\u2019s reliance on influencers to fight the bans suggests the company recognizes it can\u2019t fight these measures, which would could cost it millions of users, alone, said Katie Paul, the director of the Tech Transparency Project. Meta needs to use influencers to spread its message because people don\u2019t trust the company, said Paul. \u201cThe brand has become a problem,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
Responding to questions about the report, Meta said that the firm works hard to \u201cbuild strong protections for teens and effective controls for parents\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlanket bans don\u2019t keep young people safe, they simply push them toward less safe, unregulated corners of the internet,\u201d said Edward Patterson, a spokesperson. \u201cWhere our apps remain available, such as in Australia where 16- and 17-year-olds are defaulted into Teen Accounts, we will continue working with parents and experts to ensure families are aware of our safety features, and know how to make the most of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November 2024, Australia became the first country in the world to ban teens under 16 from using social media apps. The law, which went into effect in December 2025, required social media companies to shut down existing teen accounts and reject new ones. (Meta already had rules in place that barred kids younger than 13 from opening an account.)<\/p>\n
Concern over teen use of social media has been growing since at least 2021, when whistleblowers including Frances Haugen and Arturo Bejar shared internal Meta documents showing the company knew teens were being exposed to harmful content but didn\u2019t work to mitigate those harms. In the US, several states sued Meta, accusing the company of deliberately making its platform addictive to younger users.<\/p>\n
Meta has since introduced teen accounts with built in restrictions, including limits on who can message teen users and more sensitive content filters that limit their exposure to violent or harmful videos. But concerns have remained.<\/p>\n
Australia passed its law after a 2025 study it commissioned found that 96% of children between the ages of 10 and 15 used social media and that 71% of those children were exposed to harmful content, including fight videos, posts that encourage unhealthy eating or exercise habits and sexist or otherwise hateful posts.<\/p>\n
Meta has taken down 756,000 accounts it suspected belonged to teens since the ban. Meanwhile, the move to restrict or altogether ban teens from using social media has gained momentum around the world.<\/p>\n
Indonesia became the first south-east Asian country to roll out a blanket teen social media ban in March 2026. Some states in India have rolled out blanket bans, while the country continues to consider regulating social media use for children. Brazil rolled out the Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents in March 2026 which, among other regulations, requires strict age verification systems and children\u2019s accounts to be linked to their parents\u2019.<\/p>\n