Earlier this year, dozens of states sued Facebook for allegedly harming young users and putting profit above their safety. However, the extent to which companies like Facebook profit from young users wasn’t fully known — until now. According to a study released this week by the Harvard School of Public Health, social media companies made more than $11 billion in advertising revenue from minors in 2022.

According to researchers, these findings illustrate the need for “greater transparency and regulation” for social media companies to ensure they’re not overstepping and collecting too much private data or using that data to potentially put children at risk of mental health issues and more.

“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, an author of the study.

With so many legal cases already in the works against Facebook over these issues, it seems like the company will have to take meaningful action to protect young users soon. And this study just provides more ammunition to hold Facebook accountable.

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