Tech giants spend millions in Brussels to fight teen social media bans
Feb 22nd 2026
Meta, Google and other U.S. tech firms are running ads, hiring lobbyists and courting swing lawmakers in the European Union as they push alternatives to blanket bans on teenage social media use.
- Industry spending on EU lobbying reached about €151 million last year, with Meta around €10 million and Google about €4.5 million.
- There are roughly 890 full-time tech lobbyists in Brussels, more than the number of members of the European Parliament.
- Tactics include billboard and podcast ads, full-page newspaper letters and dozens of private meetings with on-the-fence and far-right MEPs.
- Tech firms are advocating parental controls and a proposed digital majority age instead of outright bans on underage accounts.
- The EU's proposed Digital Fairness Act would ban features like infinite scroll, autoplay and engagement recommendations and faces a likely vote late this year.
- EU developments are being watched globally after Australia and several countries moved to restrict teen access and multiple U.S. states introduced similar bills.