Instagram chief testifies in Meta youth-safety trial as states press addiction claims

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has testified in a landmark federal trial in California over claims that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users. The hearing is part of a lawsuit brought by 29 US states against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook. Mosseri said few teenagers used Instagram's "Take a Break" feature before it was made the default setting for teens in September 2024.

Sponsored

Under questioning from a lawyer for Colorado, Mosseri acknowledged that teen use of the feature had been in the low single digits before the default change. He said the feature had been available for nearly three years before that step was taken, and that most teenagers did not want it. The testimony came on the fourth day of the trial in Oakland, California, and placed one of Meta's most senior product executives at the centre of the case.

The states suing Meta say the company designed its platforms to hook young users, contributing to anxiety, depression and even suicide, while misleading the public about safety. Four of the states - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - are leading those claims, and all 29 states also allege that Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13. Meta has rejected the allegations and says it did not seek to addict children.

The case is being closely watched because it could reshape how some of the world's most widely used apps are regulated and marketed. It also comes at a time of sustained scrutiny over the impact of social media on children and teenagers, with regulators and lawmakers in several jurisdictions pressing companies to explain how their products affect young users. The dispute is not only about one feature, but about whether safety tools are effective in practice and whether companies should be required to disclose how often they are used.

Sponsored

Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, previously estimated in a December 2021 blog post that more than 90% of teenage users who turned on Take a Break in early tests kept it on. In court, he said the company moved ahead with making the feature default despite the low adoption rate. That evidence is likely to be examined alongside the states' broader argument that Meta's product design choices were intended to maximise engagement among teenagers.

The trial is one of the highest-profile tests yet of allegations that social media companies have harmed young users. It also reflects wider pressure on major technology firms to show that their safety features are more than symbolic and that they can be measured in real-world use. The states are seeking about $200bn in damages, making the financial stakes unusually large as well as the legal ones.

What remains unclear is how the court will weigh Mosseri's testimony against the states' wider claims about design, data use and harm. Meta has said its research found no clear link between adolescent social media use and poor wellbeing, but the trial is expected to continue with further evidence on internal decisions and public messaging. The outcome could influence future regulation of youth-safety tools and the standards companies must meet when presenting them to parents, users and regulators.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has testified in a landmark US trial over claims that Meta designed its platforms to be addictive for young users and mishandled children's data. The hearing, taking place in the United States, is part of a lawsuit brought by 29 states against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook. Mosseri said few teenagers used Instagram's "Take a Break" feature before it was made the default setting for teens in September 2024.

Sponsored

Mosseri told the court that the feature had been available for nearly three years before the default change, but that most teenagers did not want it. He said the company decided to push ahead with the change anyway. Under questioning from a lawyer for Colorado, he acknowledged that teen use of the feature had been in the low single digits before the default setting was introduced.

He also said Meta had not disclosed that low adoption rate, which had reached only 1% to 2% of accounts. The case is being closely watched because it is one of the biggest legal challenges yet to a social media company over youth safety. Four states - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - have accused Meta of designing its platforms to hook young users, contributing to anxiety, depression and even suicide, while misleading the public about safety.

All 29 states in the case also say Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13. The states are seeking about $200bn in damages. Meta has rejected the allegations, saying it did not seek to addict children and that its research found no clear link between adolescent social media use and poor wellbeing.

Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, is a central witness in the trial, which entered its second week on Tuesday. His evidence focuses attention on how the company has presented safety tools to regulators, parents and users, and whether those tools were effective in practice. The dispute also reflects wider pressure on major technology firms over the impact of social media on children and teenagers.

The "Take a Break" feature is intended to encourage teenage users to close the app after a set period of time, making it one of several tools Meta has promoted as part of its youth-safety efforts. The testimony raises questions about how often such features are actually used, and whether companies should be required to disclose adoption rates when they market them as safeguards. What remains unclear is how the court will weigh Mosseri's testimony against the states' broader claims about design choices and data practices.

The trial is continuing, and further evidence is expected on Meta's internal decisions, its public messaging and the extent of any harm alleged by the states. The outcome could have implications for how social media platforms are regulated and how they present safety features to younger users and their families.

#Meta #Instagram #AdamMosseri #Californiafederalcourt #youthsafety #TakeaBreak #socialmediaregulation #teenaddiction