Sandra Matz, an assistant professor at Columbia Business School, questions whether the courts alone will be enough to make social media companies change their ways, but says high-profile cases could lead to regulatory changes. “Often, it is not actually through the lawsuits, but through policymakers feeling the public pressure,” she tells Vogue. “Autoplay, for example, where the moment that your video stops the next one is already queued up, could be made illegal.”
Rethinking influencer marketing strategies
Increased scrutiny on how social media platforms can harm mental health, and potential changes to algorithms as a result, could reshape how brands approach influencer marketing.
It’s no secret that influencer culture has a big part to play in how social media use can affect mental health: a 2025 study found that 67% of surveyed teens felt insecure after viewing influencer content. At the same time, brands have been steadily increasing their influencer marketing spend over the last few years.
Influencer marketing platform Creator IQ recently found that two-thirds of brands have been funding this increase by cutting into paid media budgets. But experts say the reduced control brands have over influencer outputs may cause them to pull back from partnering with certain personalities.
In the first instance, this greater awareness of social media’s potential harm will push brands to steer even further away from influencers who are seen to be part of the problem. This would include “anyone who promotes things like body image standards that create anxiety, because people compare themselves to others”, says Melika Hashemi, a digital marketing director working with WPP.
“More awareness of this creates a segue to weed out the good influencers from the bad, and it opens the door for the good influencers to stand out,” she adds.
Brands will also likely begin penning stricter contracts with influencers, to minimize the risk of chasing engagement at any cost. “The way that a lot of brand deals work is that the creator will get brand guidelines, of how and what to say. The creator has a responsibility to make sure that the content performs. So they’ll do things that have a hook, and a lot of the time that’s something controversial,” says Lakha. “Brands are going to want to tighten that up, because no one wants to get hit with a lawsuit.”
Matz hopes that, if platforms are compelled to redesign algorithms to be less optimized for emotional engagement, these kinds of risks could be mitigated by those encouraging less polemic influencer content. “Right now, [users are] incentivized to play into these algorithms, to put something out there that is more extreme and emotional,” she says. “It might mean that influencers could potentially shift the style of the language they use.”
Quality over quantity
Lakha adds that more stringent age restrictions could create extra liability for brands, by ensuring that content marked “child-safe” isn’t harmful. This could mean more caution around categories potentially linked to mental health issues like body dysmorphia.
