Meta, which recently reached an agreement with U.S. state governments on measures to prevent youth social media addiction, has launched a major advertising campaign urging competitors like TikTok and YouTube to join its efforts. This proactive regulatory approach aims to retain teenage users on its platforms while drawing competitors into the same regulatory framework.
According to Yonhap News, on August 28, Meta placed full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, featuring an open letter calling for TikTok and YouTube to participate in youth protection initiatives.
In the letter, Meta outlined changes to its algorithms agreed upon with state governments, including a daily limit of two hours for social media use, blocking app access at night, disabling notifications during school hours, and implementing parental supervision features. The company strongly urged competitors to join these efforts.
Meta stated, "We want to ensure that young people can enjoy a new industry standard, but we cannot achieve this alone," emphasizing the necessity of collaboration with competitors like TikTok and YouTube. It added, "If one app imposes restrictions, teens will simply move to another app. All platforms must enhance parental controls and support youth in this way."
This strategy appears to be aimed at building a positive image for Meta as a leader in youth protection while preventing teenage users from migrating to competing platforms due to regulatory fatigue.
Meta's pressure on competitors is rooted in the unprecedented settlement terms of recent lawsuits with state governments. The company agreed to pay up to $16.7 billion (approximately 23 trillion won) to settle these lawsuits, with one-third of the total settlement contingent on state governments reaching similar agreements with TikTok, YouTube, and Snap.
This approach seems to take lessons from Australia's recent decision to completely block youth access to social media, which led to a surge in popularity for smaller alternative platforms not included in the ban, exposing regulatory loopholes.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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