Meta, Snap, TikTok and others will face reduced teen audience reach, reduced traffic/inventory, reduced revenue, higher costs and tarnished reputations caused by this lawsuit filed by Canadian school boards and a similar one brought by thirteen U.S. states, together with legislation such as Florida’s new age limits for social media.
1. If the U.S. lawsuit succeeds and large damages are applied (we are talking billions), this could prompt services to shut down or reduce teen access themselves, reducing audience reach into the 13+ demo.
2. Alternatively, they could introduce age verification, which is expensive, cumbersome and error prone. This will open up services to lawsuits claiming age verification failed, caused harm, and that this deserves compensation.
3. They could also opt to change their recommendation algorithm to be less addictive, at least for minors. The consequence would be reduced traffic and inventory.
4. Florida will not be the last state to pass flat-out age bans. This will at least shut down access to 13- to 14-year-old teens altogether in those states. In some states, as in Florida, 15- to 16-year-old teens may have access with parental consent, but again, this will reduce audience reach.
5. Culturally, the addictiveness and harmfulness of social media for minors is well known. In other words, it is a sure bet restrictions will only become stricter. (See chart; source: https://t.co/G0WAK2BhZd)
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Canadian school boards sue social media giants for over C$4 bln in damages
W Media Research 