A regulation-heavy year for social for social looms in 2025

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has published guidelines around the Online Safety Act, warning that most social platforms are not adequately meeting standards. Sites that fail to comply can be faced with high fines and potential bans (per The Guardian). 

The context in the UK is heavily informed by the riots that swept the country earlier this year, following the wildfire spread of misinformation online. EU officials also responded to the events at the time, with ire directed most specifically at platforms including Facebook and X. 

The broader context is one geared towards social media regulation, with TikTok’s deadline to divest from ByteDance or be banned from app stores fast approaching in January. The platform is already banned in India, and a ban in the US, however slow-moving, would be a huge blow to the app’s cultural relevance. 

Shifting perspectives on social media’s role 

There is growing discussion and concern around the harmful effects social media platforms can have. Concerns range from individual impacts, like detrimental effects on mental health, all the way through to undermining democracy and sparking riots. Algorithms promote content to those most likely to react to it, with little fact checking in place. As a result, controversial and inflammatory posts can trigger algorithms far more easily than balanced takes. 2024 was one of the biggest election years on record, with more than half of the global population eligible to vote in a major election. This rising awareness of the downsides of our social apps therefore coincides with many new governments with their entire terms ahead of them. This puts them in prime position to take on the confusing, and relatively uncharted, territory of regulating social media companies. 

The upsides of social platforms are their ability to spread niche, nuanced information quickly – which can undermine controversial or ill-intentioned governments as well. So on both the good side and the bad, it looks like more regulation to come, rather than less. 

Of course, the incoming US president Trump is strongly anti-regulation. But this is unlikely to affect things like the TikTok ban, especially with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg set to be involved in the incoming government to some extent, both of whom could potentially benefit from the ban. Stronger regulation for social platforms more broadly is, for the same reason, unlikely – but wildly unregulated products, while potentially greenlit in the US, are less likely to be exportable to other markets with higher standards. The looser regulations become for the likes of Meta and X in their domestic markets, the more likely they are to face stricter pushback abroad. American consumers are some of the most valuable in terms of ARPU – but the export of American culture has been part of what has kept it such a valuable bellwether market. A break in the flow of culture, information, and entertainment internationally could have negative effects on the country as a whole. 

Entertainment could be the way out

Most social platforms are already leaning into the entertainment angle, introducing creator subscriptions, and promoting longer-form and lean back video content. Entertainment-focused apps encourage fewer users to create, which makes content easier to moderate. And entertainment platforms face different responsibilities than informative ones: the burden of social responsibility (both morally and legally) faced by the likes of Netflix is different from that of news outlets like the Daily Mail. In theory, anyway. 

Expect to see social platforms leaning into the entertainment angle to avoid regulations closing in, while other traditionally non-social platforms adopt new social features to eat up what social engagement losses they may have as a result. 2024 was the year perspectives shifted from viewing social as a frivolous place for selfies and dance trends to platforms that can incite riots; 2025 will be when comprehensive laws start trying to protect from the latter, while impinging on the former.