Meta has been recruiting influencers to promote its teen safety tools whenever governments discuss regulating social media for young people, according to a new report by the Tech Transparency Project, a digital advocacy group. The company has hosted events and sponsored posts to push back against blanket bans, which could cost it millions of users.
Influencer campaigns in response to regulations
In July 2025, Meta gathered parenting influencers in Australia for a camping-themed event overlooking the Sydney Opera House, five months before the country's ban on under-16s using social media took effect. The company told influencers that blanket bans weren't effective and encouraged them to promote its existing safety tools, including teen accounts with extra restrictions.
Since 2024, Meta has tapped lifestyle, parenting, and mental health creators to spread its message, according to the report. It also found support from parent, advocacy, and research groups that Meta finances.
Growing global momentum for bans
Australia became the first country to ban teens under 16 from social media in November 2024, with the law taking effect in December 2025. Indonesia followed in March 2026, and some Indian states have issued bans, while Brazil introduced strict age verification requirements in March 2026.
Meta has taken down 756,000 accounts it suspected belonged to teens since the Australian ban. The company said it works to build strong protections for teens and effective controls for parents, and that blanket bans push young people toward less safe corners of the internet.
Criticism and conflict of interest concerns
Whistleblower Arturo Bejar said influencers promoting teen accounts create a false promise of safety, noting that users can still search for self-harm and eating disorder content. Meta said Bejar's experience predated teen accounts.
In Australia, the internet regulator found that more than 80% of teens were still using social media three months after the ban, highlighting enforcement difficulties. Andrew Leigh, assistant minister, defended the ban, saying full compliance was never expected, similar to minimum drinking age laws.
Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, argued that Meta has proven it cannot be trusted to self-regulate, leading governments to step in. "Facebook and its sister platforms have been around for 20 years at this point and the company has proven that it cannot be trusted to self-regulate – so what we’re seeing is governments taking that last resort and saying: ‘OK if kids can’t be protected on these platforms we’re going to have to do it ourselves,'" she said.
