Social Media, Markets and Minors: A Behavioral Ethics Perspective

By combining behavioral business ethics with digital economics, this study explores how platform and creator incentives can be aligned with the well-being and developing autonomy of young people without undermining innovation.

Social media platforms, creators and influencers often exploit developmental vulnerabilities, creating potential market failures and undermining trust in digital markets. Ethical evaluation shows that protecting young people’s autonomy and dignity requires categorical duties (deontological lens) such as prohibiting manipulative design, dark patterns, and covert monetization – combined with proportionate, welfare-maximizing interventions (utilitarian lens). Current EU and German frameworks provide guidance but leave enforcement gaps, particularly in design patterns, age assurance, and transparency in the creator economy. Effective policy measures include default “Young User Mode” settings, dual disclosure of influence and content provenance, targeted restrictions for high-risk advertising, and scaled media-literacy programs. Together, these policies realign incentives toward innovation-compatible, healthier engagement models, embedding youth well-being as a design constraint and strengthening trust in digital markets within a social market economy framework.