Could under 16s be banned from using social media?

With Apple announcing its new iPhone this week and the Harris/Trump debate, perhaps platforms decided to keep things relatively quiet, knowing that the news cycle is fairly saturated at the moment.

Nevertheless, there are a few exciting bits and pieces, with news from Australia about Under 16s being ‘banned’ from social platforms, yet another Google antitrust case, and some relatively unsurprising figures around which apps are the most loved worldwide.

Let’s get to it!

Could people under 16 years old be stopped from using social media?

In a word, no. But that hasn’t stopped the Australian government from trying, following the proposal of increased age restrictions last week. The reality of how difficult these would actually be to enforce makes this little more than a PR stunt, but it’s at least starting an interesting conversation.

The evidence suggests that there are issues with how things currently work and that further oversight/legislation is needed. But it’s fair to say Snapchat and TikTok won’t be worrying about user figures yet.

The other big social media news from Australia this week was that Meta has been scraping all Instagram and Facebook posts since 2007 for its AI products, and Australians cannot opt out.

CMA determines Google abused its position in the Ad Tech market

On my monthly Digital Marketing News bingo card, “Google on trial for market abuse” seems an increasingly regular hit. This time, the body determining their guilt is the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the issue is the ad tech stack – essentially the technology that facilitates advertising between publishers and advertisers. This all comes ahead of a high-profile trial in the US which started this week.

The CMA says Google’s been favoring its own ad exchange, AdX, by giving it the VIP treatment and tweaking bids within its own platforms. This move has helped to squash the competition and could mean higher costs for everyone else.

So, what does this mean for digital marketers? Well, if the regulators crack down on Google, we might see a more competitive playing field. Advertisers could get more bang for their buck with better options for ad placements. And publishers? They might get more revenue when auctioning off ad space. But, while this is all a long way off, the DOJ trial in the US media buyers and publishers alike should keep a close eye on.

The most feted and hated apps in each country

This is more interesting for those of you working in social-led roles and looking at opportunities in new countries, but this analysis by Mailsuite is worth a glance.

A recent analysis by Mailsuite ranked the most and least popular email, messaging, and social media apps globally based on user ratings. It’s surprising how much variety there is between markets and continents, but also instructive of broader trends.

TikTok emerged as the most loved social media app in 30 nations, whereas Facebook and Reddit topped the list of least favoured apps in multiple countries. Of course, this is hardly scientific proof of… anything, but at least it is exciting conversation fodder as to the broader social landscape at the moment.

With Mailsuite being an email-focused platform, we also learned that Microsoft Outlook topped email app preferences in 46 countries, while Gmail received the lowest ratings in 36 nations, including the U.S.

Could people under 16 years old be stopped from using social media?

CMA determines Google abused its position in the Ad Tech market

The most feted and hated apps in each country

Further Reading