Social Media Companies Prepare For User Dropoff Due To Online Safety Bill
With the proposed Online Safety Bill in the US, social media companies are preparing for a large drop off of users from their platforms. With the Bill potentially making it harder for minors to access social media sites, the companies are looking to mitigate any negative impacts to their user numbers. The Online Safety Bill will make it illegal for companies to market certain services to minors, as well as making it more difficult for them to access certain services that they do not have the legal age to be able to use.
These companies are already taking steps to minimise any potential losses that they could incur as a result of this Bill. For instance, Facebook is banning advertisements for alcohol, gambling and drugs for users under the age of 21, and YouTube are beginning to heavily monitor content made by minors.
Key Takeaways
- Social media companies are taking proactive steps in preparing for any potential losses due to new online safety bill.
- The proposed online safety bill will make it illegal for companies to market certain services to minors.
- Facebook is banning advertisements for alcohol, gambling and drugs for users under the age of 21.
- YouTube are monitoring content created by minors more closely.
- The bill will impact negative user numbers for many companies.
New reports state that social networks business are anticipating their user numbers to drop when policies set out by the Online Safety Bill enter result. This decrease might have a ripple effect for the market, which is currently dealing with earnings.
The Financial Times reports that the legislation will start its last journey through your home of Commons quickly. One crucial policy in the costs will see social networks business needing to produce age confirmation features on their platforms.
“Companies can utilize their huge resources and resourcefulness to establish their own options or utilize the series of age guarantee innovations currently available which safeguard people’s personal privacy and are used in other markets”, stated the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The paper composes that this will not just eliminate minor users, however likewise make it harder for people afraid of personal privacy concerns or without correct ID. With higher constraints, comes less users, and as a result less people to promote to, specialists discussed.
As an effect, marketing, which is the primary income source for many social networks platforms, will be less efficient and less successful.
Another problem with the legislation is that it might affect liberty of speech. TikTok staff members informed the Financial Times that confirmation will result in less users, which possibly indicates less varied material being released.
The short article reports that social networks platform Yubo, which primarily serves teens, saw a 10 and 20 percent decrease in users after presenting age confirmation innovation in May 2022.