In the fall of 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported on internal Facebook research leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen detailing that the company knew Instagram was harmful to teenagers, but did little about it. Around that same time, Instagram acknowledged that it had recommended accounts promoting extreme dieting to accounts registered to teens, even though that goes against its policies.

Now, a controversial bill called the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is aiming to create restrictions for online platforms that will—in theory—protect kids from potentially harmful content.

The bill would require companies like Instagram, TikTok, and Snap to “take reasonable measures…to prevent and mitigate” potential harms to users under the age of 17 (defined as minors in the bill), pointing specifically to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bullying, and sexual exploitation. Specifically, companies would be required to design their platforms in ways that would not promote this kind of content to minors in the first place. However, the bill would not cover content that a minor “deliberately and independently” searches.

KOSA—which would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general—would also require that platforms give kids the ability to opt out of “personalized recommendation systems,” aka algorithms, as well as include labels alongside ads shown to minors that explicitly explain why they were served that ad.

Opponents have raised concerns about the bill, ranging from it potentially silencing LGBTQ+ content to censorship and impinging on freedom of speech. But, with President Biden’s support, Congress could vote on the bill this fall.

Read the full story here.—RB

Artificial intelligence is all the rage lately (for the record, this was written by humans). All this buzz leaves companies wondering whether to give in to the AI FOMO…or stay far, far away.

Luckily for marketers, Salesforce brought industry pros together to share insights and knowledge about today’s top trends and challenges. They surveyed 6k marketers from around the globe to bring you their latest State of Marketing Report.

Inside the report, you’ll find deets on how marketing leaders are:

• embracing AI to operate more efficiently
• preparing for third-party cookies to retire
• removing silos to enhance the customer experience
• meeting evolving customer needs through innovation

Don’t tackle these vexing challenges on your own. Get your guide.

Celsius, the Florida-based energy-drink brand, seems to be in every corner store these days.

The brand repositioned itself from a weight-loss drink to a “fitness lifestyle drink” in 2012, EVP of Marketing Kyle Watson told Marketing Brew, but it didn’t really “surge in popularity” until around 2020, when the pandemic hit.

She declined to comment on marketing spend, but said the brand remains “adamant” about connecting to consumers via micro- to macro-influencers.

This year, Celsius inked an endorsement deal with social media personality turned pro boxer Jake Paul and hosted a pickleball tournament at David Dobrik’s house as it seeks to continue building awareness of its brand.

Keep reading here.—AM

Each week, Marketing Brew recaps what people are talking about on social media, the trends that took over our feeds, and how marketers are responding.

The public is not relationing: It seems the celebrity PR machine is not operating the way it used to. In recent weeks, we’ve seen:

• Botched apology videos from stars including Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis and Drew Barrymore where, in addition to criticizing the messaging, people have called out stars for using “humble” backgrounds in these videos as a way to appear more relatable.
• Oprah and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson face criticism for encouraging people to donate to a Maui relief fund they set up, prompting people to wonder why the two wealthy celebs didn’t fund it entirely on their own.
• A video of actor Jonathan Majors breaking up a fight between two teenage girls—an incident that some suspect was staged and one person called the “worst PR stunt of the century”—on the eve of his trial for domestic assault.
• Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has proposed raising the voting age to 25, getting bodied in TikTok comments after joining the platform in an effort to appeal to younger voters.

One person who seems to be hitting the mark? Sophie Turner, who was recently seen out with Taylor Swift after people on social media said appearing with the singer, who also dated Turner’s ex Joe Jonas, would be “the funniest thing possible.”

Shock value? On TikTok, people are talking about dating app The League’s NYC subway ads, which include taglines like, “Date someone with a five-year plan that makes you want to ovulate.” People posted the ads with trending shocked sounds, while one TikToker said the campaign gave her the ick. Another (jokingly) called for more decorum from advertisers.

Checking in on the influencers:

• Sofia Richie is working with Peloton, and based on the number of TikTok likes, people seem into it.
• Creator Sarah Klait made a sponsored video with Bloom Nutrition that pokes fun at unrelatable “day in my life” influencer videos that’s racked up more than half a million likes.
• Queen of Fall, Caitlin Covington, announced that she’ll be conducting her annual fall photo shoot in October. Happy Christian Girl Autumn.—KH

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Put a pin in it: Takeaways from Pinterest’s 2023 Investor Day, including how to use its evolving personalization recommendations.

Deck to impress: If you’re a freelancer, here are some tips on pulling together a social media proposal.

Prove it: A guide to showing social media ROI, including tools that can help.

Bird’s-AI view: Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing Report has the scoop on trending innovations, challenges, cost savings, and what 6k marketers really think about investing in AI. Read it all in one place.*

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