Uttara Ananthakrishnan, an associate professor of information systems at the University of Washington, told Business Insider that she wouldn’t be surprised if YouTube and TikTok announce similar restrictions in the coming days.
Ananthakrishnan, who has authored several research papers about the addictive qualities of TikTok, said that while she welcomed the restrictions announced Wednesday, she doubts they’ll live up to expectations.
“Meta doesn’t have a great reputation of enforcing its own policies,” she said.
Ananthakrishnan pointed to a teen social media ban in Australia, which has largely failed to keep young users off the platforms, as a reason why it’s difficult for companies to verify checks.
“Enforcement is going to be really difficult,” she said. “A motivated, 16-year-old and 18-year-old will just adopt a VPN, log in from their parents’ accounts or whatever.”
