| Welcome to The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) newsletter for October 2025. Here's what we're covering in this month's newsletter:
If you've got news related to CAN and our Guiding Principles, please do get in touch with us at hello@consciousadnetwork.org.
#TogetherWeCAN | | | New Report
Teen Account, Broken Promises: How Instagram is Failing to Protect Minors – Molly Rose Foundation | | | A major new research report has been published highlighting systemic failures in Meta's Teen Accounts. The piece is the result of a landmark partnership between civil society and academia in the US and UK and was conducted by Meta whistleblower Arturo Béjar, Molly Rose Foundation, Fairplay, ParentsSOS, and Cybersecurity for Democracy, based out of NYU and Northeastern University.
The research tested 47 of Meta's own listed safety tools and found that:
The report outlines how Teen Accounts were exposed to content promoting suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, could still receive inappropriate adult contact, and were algorithmically encouraged into sexualised behaviours.
Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said:
"This report exposes systematic failures in Meta's Teen Accounts and must be a wake-up call to governments, regulators and parents. Our findings suggest that Teen Accounts are a PR driven performative stunt rather than a clear and concerted attempt to fix long running safety risks on Instagram."
As previous research conducted by Molly Rose Foundation, "Pervasive-by-Design" showed recently, advertisers risk their reputations when their ads appear alongside harmful content.
| | CAN at the United Nations SDG Media Zone
 During New York Climate Week 2025, CAN Co-Founder Jake Dubbins joined the SDG Media Zone at the 80th UN General Assembly for an important conversation: "Information Integrity and Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Risks for Advertisers."
The panel he joined explored how deliberate disinformation campaigns, amplified and monetised online, are obstructing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The discussion made clear that advertisers hold immense power in shaping the information ecosystem, and with that comes both responsibility and opportunity.
Jake was joined by Charlotte Scaddan (Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, United Nations), Rupen Desai (Chief Marketing Officer, Una Terra Early Growth Fund), and Fabiana Schaeffer (CEO & Co-Founder, Netza&CO) as moderator. You can watch the full replay here | | | | Upcoming Webinar
Protecting Children Online: The Advertising Challenge – Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) | | | On the 18th of November, the ASA will host 'Protecting Children Online: The Advertising Challenge' - a free webinar designed to help platform representatives, regulators, brands, advertisers, and others help shape a safer online space for children.
The webinar will examine advertising risks to children online, assess how these risks are currently being addressed, and explore alternative steps moving forward. It will also highlight the importance of collaboration between regulators and platforms and define the role advertisers must play in safeguarding young audiences.
Hosted by ASA Chair, Rt Hon Baroness Nicky Morgan, this 1 hour 45 minute webinar will include; a keynote conversation featuring the Chair of NSPCC's Online Child Safety Taskforce; insights from the ASA team on how they are personally responding to these challenges; a panel discussion with representatives from ASA, Meta, Media Smart, and OMD UK, finishing with some closing remarks from Baroness Morgan.
Alongside our Children's Rights and Wellbeing Guide, this session offers a vital opportunity for members to equip their teams with the tools and insights needed to actively shape a safer online space for children. | | CAN at COP30
CAN will be attending COP30, the largest global United Nations event for discussions and negotiations on climate change. The conference will be taking place from the 10th – 21st of November, in Belém, Brazil.
For the first time in COP history, information integrity has formally been included on the UNFCCC Action Agenda. CAN will be focussing our efforts at COP this year on exploring solutions for protecting the integrity of climate information, and the role of advertising in this.
Are you going to be at COP30? Reach out to CAN's Head of Advocacy Alex Murray to arrange a meet up.
| | | | October Awareness Events Recap | | | This October marked Breast Cancer Awareness Month, World Mental Health Day, ADHD Awareness Month and Black History Month; this is a vital moment to reflect on how we can create truly inclusive workplaces and reshape the advertising landscape. In this newsletter, we are spotlighting two of the many vital awareness campaigns that we can use to improve our workplaces. | | | ADHD Awareness Month As of August 2025, the NHS states that 2.5 million people in England have been diagnosed with ADHD. On top of this, a shocking statistic shows that adults with ADHD are 5x more likely to attempt suicide. This shocking statistic shows how important it is to improve support for our neurodiverse colleagues, family members, and friends.
Neurodivergent adults are overwhelmingly overrepresented in the creative workforce. This means that in your work, you are probably interacting with neurodiverse colleagues every day. They can bring exceptional skills to our workplaces but can only truly thrive with inclusive structures and understanding leadership.
ADHD UK have some useful resources for employers wanting to know more about ADHD and how to support their neurodiverse employees.
| | Black History Month This year's Black History Month focused on the theme 'Standing Firm in Power and Pride,' reminding us that Black excellence is a vital force shaping our industry, past, present, and future.
There are emerging and unique spaces for black creatives and POC to connect and share opportunities and experiences. The Black Create, Connect is a community led by black and multi-cultural creatives across tech, media, advertising and more, who share unique events, job listings, and opportunities to connect with thousands of other creatives in the community.
Yet, discrimination in advertising is still rife, and can leave our colleagues feeling alone, humiliated or angry. Lollipop mentoring reports that 30% of black people are likely to leave the advertising industry due to lack of inclusion and discrimination. | | | Resource Spotlight
ADHD Awareness Month and Black History Month Resources from NABS | | | Our Inclusion Guide reinforces that inclusivity must be embedded at the heart of every brand, both in representation and workplace culture. In light of ADHD Awareness Month, World Mental Health Day on the 10th October, and Black History Month, we recommend exploring NABS' resources on Racism and Mental Health, Discrimination Advice, and Neurodiverse Signposting, which provide practical support for employees and staff within the advertising industry. NABS also offer useful training opportunities for management to learn how to support their staff effectively.
Three ways your organisation can take action now: -
Subscribe to NABS' bi-weekly newsletter to stay up to date on training opportunities and inclusion resources; -
Make NABS' support materials, as well as these workplace well-being resources, visible and accessible to all of your staff; -
Ensure you have followed and embedded CAN's Inclusion Guide into your workplace culture and communications. | | | New Report
Mirror on the Industry Report – Channel 4 | | | Channel 4's recent 'Mirror on the Industry' audit reveals that diverse and inclusive representation in advertising has stalled, and in some cases, become increasingly tokenistic.
While 77% of people agree that DEI is important in advertising, statistics show that brands are not doing enough. Some examples show that:
The report calls on brands to take active steps to reshape the structures of advertising. That means telling unique stories, rooting campaigns in lived experience, and expanding representation – from beauty standards, to relationships, family dynamics and class.
Rak Patel, the Chief Commercial Officer at Channel 4 puts it clearly: "…When levels of representation are greater and portrayal is more authentic, and more inclusive, the stories we tell become richer, the connections stronger, and the business case undeniable."
| | | What We Are Reading
Martin Lewis: 'Fine tech companies tens of billions for deepfake scams' - Financial Times | | | At the Financial Times Weekend Festival in September, Martin Lewis stated that 300-400 deepfake adverts appear per day using his likeness. The rise of these AI-generated deepfake adverts can cost consumers hundreds of thousands of pounds in scams – one retired widow lost £120k to a crypto investment scam that used Martin Lewis' image.
Some of his team now act as de facto "ad-monitors," reporting every offending ad they come across in order for it to be taken down. Yet, as Lewis argues, platforms are reluctant to employ more monitoring staff themselves since they would lose too much advertising revenue, which is why Lewis is calling for massive fines on platforms that allow such dangerous ads to run.
CAN's Anti-Ad Fraud Guide gives you a ready-made playbook to protect brand reputation and keep your supply-chain transparent, so your ads never appear alongside these scams. By working only with certified vendors and reporting any detected fraudulent activity with trade bodies and platforms, you can safeguard both brand reputation and consumer safety. | | | What We Are Listening To
Platforms' teen safety efforts amount to 'broken promises', with Andy Burrows and Harriet Kingaby - The Media Leader Podcast | | | CAN Co-Founder Harriet Kingaby, and Andy Burrows, the CEO of Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), recently joined Jack Benjamin on the Media Leader Podcast to discuss children's safety online, and recent studies released by the MRF.
MRF showed in their research that harmful content related to suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and misogynistic content is far too commonly recommended to young people online. This content is often unintentionally supported by advertisers online, making the content monetised and even further supported.
During the podcast, Harriet and Andy explore important topics like transparency and trust in platform advertising supply chains, AI chatbots and child safety, and ad regulation in the platform economy. | | We Hit 5000 Followers on LinkedIn!
We hit an exciting milestone this month by reaching 5000 followers on LinkedIn! Every day, we interact with a network of passionate individuals across the industry, and we are so happy to share the CAN message via LinkedIn.
Not following us yet? Here's what you can expect to find on our page:
Follow us on LinkedIn | | | | What We Are Reading
News Needs You – Campaign | | | The News Alliance launched earlier this year, a cross-industry, cross-channel coalition which champions the benefits of advertising in news. Now, several months on, Sarah Jones and Rupert Smith of The News Alliance ask: trusted journalism has reach, scale and engagement, so why do some advertisers and agencies continue to shy away from investing in news?
Advertisers and agencies continue to shy away from news, despite the fact that the evidence shows that news has reach, scale and engagement. The News Alliance conducted their own consumer research into audience engagement around news, and whilst the full results are set to be published in November, some key insights include:
The News Alliance wants to understand what's driving advertiser behaviour across different media channels and what might change it and have created short surveys for marketers and agency leaders to understand more. We urge you to take a few minutes to participate. In the words of The News Alliance:
"We want to challenge our industry over its under-investment in media's hottest property: the news."
| | | What We Are Reading
Is a global consensus on tackling digital ad fraud finally within reach? - New Digital Age | | | Ian Moss from UK Stop Ad Funded Crime (UKSAFC), a CAN Supporter Member, discusses the growing problem of ad-fraud in an article for New Digital Age, and how programmatic advertising, while revolutionising the industry, has created an unregulated environment which allows fraudsters to thrive.
Moss delves into the European and UK markets and examines how recent regulation (such as the UK Online Safety Act (OSA) and the EU Digital Markets Act) is trying to improve online transparency. One of the fastest ways to achieve transparency, argues Moss, is the Know Your Customer (KYC) checks which, alongside work from organisations like Check My Ads and the IAPP, ensures verification of clients and participants across the programmatic supply chain.
Through the establishment of enforceable, global standards, the industry hopes to curb billions of dollars in ad-fraud losses and protect brand safety. | | | CAN Staff Spotlight
Nafissa Norris' Leadership Insights for NUA Training | | | Our very own Nafissa Norris, Head of Membership & Engagement, sat down with Mary Langan for NUA Training to share some of her leadership insights. She answers three pivotal questions about navigating the media industry, authentic leadership, inclusive team culture, and her empathetic and courageous approach to navigating her career. When asked about her biggest piece of advice, Nafissa sums it up perfectly:
"Don't shrink to fit into spaces that weren't designed with you in mind. Your heritage, lived experiences, and intersectional perspective are not limitations - they're your unique advantage." - Nafissa Norris, Head of Membership and Engagements, Conscious Advertising Network
Check out Nafissa's 8 takeaways to see how you can apply her insights and advice to your own career.
| | | Watch out for more news on all things CAN related via LinkedIn. For any other questions or concerns, or if you would like to know more about joining, please feel free to contact us at hello@consciousadnetwork.org.
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Thank you for your ongoing support, The Conscious Advertising Network | | | | |
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