A watchdog reveals Meta’s global campaign against teen social media bans
The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has uncovered a strategy employed by Meta to fight legislation targeting teen social media access worldwide. The company stages branded events and collaborates with local influencers to argue that its Teen Accounts make such bans unnecessary, a tactic now used in over a dozen countries.
Meta’s Tactics:
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Paid Influencers: Meta engages parenting influencers, actors, radio hosts, psychologists, and celebrities to promote its Teen Accounts as safer alternatives to outright bans.
- Example: In Australia, parenting influencer Darius Sinathrya (1.8M followers) encouraged teens to use Instagram’s safety features.
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Branded Events: The company organizes events like the "Instagram Safety Camp" in Sydney, inviting influencers for branded swag and snacks while advocating against blanket bans.
- Event Details: Held in July 2025, attendees discussed how Instagram parental supervision tools are better than age restrictions.
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Vague Disclosures: Influencers often use vague tags like "#instagrampartner" instead of clear advertising labels when promoting Meta’s Teen Accounts.
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Funded Parent Groups: Meta provides financial support to youth services and parent groups, such as ReachOut (Australia), Netsafe (New Zealand), and ThinkYoung (Europe), which then advocate against social media bans without disclosing the funding.
Global Impact:
The TTP report highlights similar strategies in various countries:
- Indonesia: Actor Darius Sinathrya (1.8M followers) encouraged teens to use Instagram’s safety features, a paid promotion.
- India: Actress Juhi Parmar assured parents that Instagram provides a safer space for their teens.
- Brazil: Actor Douglas Silva (3M followers) also promoted Meta’s Teen Accounts, according to the report.
Meta maintains that its partnerships and disclosures adhere to standard marketing practices, but local regulators may disagree, as seen in Australia where misleading endorsements can incur fines.