Instagram Head Testifies in Landmark Trial Over Teen Addiction and Safety

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, testified in a California federal court on Tuesday as part of a lawsuit brought by 29 U.S. states. The states allege that Meta Platforms designed Instagram and Facebook to be addictive to young users, contributing to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and suicide. The lawsuit also claims Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting personal data from children under 13. If found liable, Meta could face civil penalties and damages totaling nearly $200 billion.

During his testimony, Mosseri acknowledged that the "Take a Break" safety feature, which encourages users to close the app after set periods, had low adoption rates among teenagers before it was made the default setting in September 2024. He testified that the percentage of teenagers using the feature was in the low single digits. While a prosecutor for Colorado noted that only 1.8 percent of teens signed up for the tool, Mosseri stated that most teenagers did not want the feature and that the company decided to push forward with it anyway.

Mosseri denied allegations that he encouraged his team to hide information or that he was aware of a policy to scrub internal presentations of problematic data. However, Francesco Fogu, Instagram's director of product design, testified that data showing teenage users saw 1.5 times more bullying, suicide, hate, nudity, and violent content than adults was removed from a 2023 presentation slide. Fogu later stated the figure appeared on a different slide. Other testimony from former employees described the safety features as being designed to fail or as having low adoption because leadership feared a negative impact on user engagement.

Meta has rejected the accusations, stating that its research shows no clear link between adolescent social media use and a lack of well-being. The trial is expected to last six weeks, and jurors will issue an advisory verdict to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will determine liability and penalties.