TTP Report: Meta’s Global Playbook for Fighting Child Safety Laws
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 18, 2026
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Meta is paying Instagram influencers and parent groups to amplify its anti-regulation message in countries that are considering or enacting social media bans for children, according to a new Tech Transparency Project (TTP) investigation.
TTP and others have found that the company’s highly touted Teen Accounts are failing to shield minors from harmful content as intended. Yet Meta continues to use influencer campaigns to promote these accounts, which are central to its effort to blunt regulation.
“In an effort to fend off child safety efforts, Meta is using influence tactics it honed in the United States and exporting them globally. By laundering its talking points through trusted influencers, the company is trying to paint a rosy picture of its Teen Accounts, despite clear evidence of their limitations,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of Campaign for Accountability, which runs TTP.
TTP previously reported on Meta’s influence tactics to promote its Teen Accounts in the U.S., including its efforts to get “momfluencers” and parent advocacy groups to co-sign Meta products. This often involved inviting influencers to glossy events, where Meta employees would pitch them on the company’s purported safety advancements. Influencers then repeated these talking points in posts to their followers—some with clear advertising disclaimers, but others only hinting at an official relationship through hashtags like “#instagrampartner.”
In Australia, which was the first country to pass a social media ban for kids under 16, Meta has repeatedly used this strategy to promote its Teen Accounts. After the ban went into effect, Meta even deployed its paid influencer partners to teach parents how to get their kids’ accounts immediately restored once they turn 16. In New Zealand, which is weighing its own ban, Meta has launched similar campaigns.
TTP’s investigation found Meta repeating this same influencer playbook across Asia and the Middle East, including in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. The report also details efforts the company has made to curry favor with influencers in Spain, France, and Brazil, which are all either considering or actively advancing youth social media bans of their own.
“Meta is working hard to make it seem like parents around the world agree that the company’s newest products are the only solution to the old problems it created. Governments and parents should not be fooled by a façade of parental support for these supposed fixes,” Ms. Kuppersmith said.
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.