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Kathy Griffin divorce Secret space plane NYE store hours Business Social media companies made $11 billion in US ad revenue from minors, Harvard study finds FILE - This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo, File) 1 of 2 | FILE - This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo, File) Read More FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) 2 of 2 | FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Read More Social media companies made $11 billion in US ad revenue from minors, Harvard study finds FILE - This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo, File) 1 of 2 | FILE - This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo, File) Read More 1 of 2 FILE - This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo, File) Share Share * Copy Link copied * Email * Facebook * X * Reddit * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Flipboard * Print Read More FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) 2 of 2 | FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Read More 2 of 2 FILE - The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) Share Share * Copy Link copied * Email * Facebook * X * Reddit * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Flipboard * Print Read More By BARBARA ORTUTAY and HALELUYA HADERO Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Share Share * Copy Link copied * Email * Facebook * X * Reddit * LinkedIn * Pinterest * Flipboard * Print Social media companies collectively made over $11 billion in U.S. advertising revenue from minors last year, according to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published on Wednesday. The researchers say the findings show a need for government regulation of social media since the companies that stand to make money from children who use their platforms have failed to meaningfully self-regulate. They note such regulations, as well as greater transparency from tech companies, could help alleviate harms to youth mental health and curtail potentially harmful advertising practices that target children and adolescents. To come up with the revenue figure, the researchers estimated the number of users under 18 on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube in 2022 based on population data from the U.S. Census and survey data from Common Sense Media and Pew Research. They then used data from research firm eMarketer, now called Insider Intelligence, and Qustodio, a parental control app, to estimate each platform's U.S. ad revenue in 2022 and the time children spent per day on each platform. After that, the researchers said they built a simulation model using the data to estimate how much ad revenue the platforms earned from minors in the U.S. Researchers and lawmakers have long focused on the negative effects stemming from social media platforms, whose personally-tailored algorithms can drive children towards excessive use. This year, lawmakers in states like New York and Utah introduced or passed legislation that would curb social media use among kids, citing harms to youth mental health and other concerns. Other news FILE - Ariana Grande attends the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event on Dec. 6, 2018, in New York. On Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, Grande announced that she will release a new album in 2024, her seventh studio album and first since 2020's "Positions." (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Ariana Grande is coming back with her first album since 2020's 'Positions' FILE - Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has a long history of making antisemitic comments, apologized to the Jewish community in an Instagram post written in Hebrew on Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions," Ye wrote. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) The rapper Ye, who has a long history of making antisemitic comments, issues an apology in Hebrew Oren Etzioni poses for photos at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence where he serves as advisor & board member, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Seattle. Experts are warning that the spread of misinformation could get worse in the coming presidential election contest. The safeguards that attempted to counter the bogus claims the last time are eroding, while the tools and systems that create and spread them are only getting stronger. (AP Photo/John Froschauer) As social media guardrails fade and AI deepfakes go mainstream, experts warn of impact on elections Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, is also being sued by dozens of states for allegedly contributing to the mental health crisis. "Although social media platforms may claim that they can self-regulate their practices to reduce the harms to young people, they have yet to do so, and our study suggests they have overwhelming financial incentives to continue to delay taking meaningful steps to protect children," said Bryn Austin, a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard and a senior author on the study. The platforms themselves don't make public how much money they earn from minors. Social media platforms are not the first to advertise to children, and parents and experts have long expressed concerns about marketing to kids online, on television and even in schools. But online ads can be especially insidious because they can be targeted to children and because the line between ads and the content kids seek out is often blurry. In a 2020 policy paper, the American Academy of Pediatrics said children are "uniquely vulnerable to the persuasive effects of advertising because of immature critical thinking skills and impulse inhibition." "School-aged children and teenagers may be able to recognize advertising but often are not able to resist it when it is embedded within trusted social networks, encouraged by celebrity influencers, or delivered next to personalized content," the paper noted. As concerns about social media and children's mental health grow, the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month proposed sweeping changes to a decades-old law that regulates how online companies can track and advertise to children. The proposed changes include turning off targeted ads to kids under 13 by default and limiting push notifications. According to the Harvard study, YouTube derived the greatest ad revenue from users 12 and under ($959.1 million), followed by Instagram ($801.1 million) and Facebook ($137.2 million). Instagram, meanwhile, derived the greatest ad revenue from users aged 13-17 ($4 billion), followed by TikTok ($2 billion) and YouTube ($1.2 billion). The researchers also estimate that Snapchat derived the greatest share of its overall 2022 ad revenue from users under 18 (41%), followed by TikTok (35%), YouTube (27%), and Instagram (16%). BARBARA ORTUTAY Technology writer covering social media and the internet twitter mailto HALELUYA HADERO Haleluya covers Amazon, retail and technology. twitter mailto [] The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world's population sees AP journalism every day. * The Associated Press + ap.org + Careers + Advertise with us + Contact Us + Accessibility Statement + Cookie Settings + Terms of Use + Privacy Policy * More From AP News + About + AP News Values and Principles + AP's Role in Elections + AP Leads + AP Definitive Source Blog + AP Images Spotlight Blog + AP Stylebook Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. * twitter * instagram * facebook