Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri has acknowledged that few teenagers used Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature before it became a default setting, as Meta faces a major U.S. trial over child safety.
Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, gave evidence in federal court in Oakland, California, on Tuesday (25 August), becoming one of the most senior Meta executives to face questioning over the company’s approach to young users.
Under questioning from Jason Slothouber, a lawyer for Colorado, Mosseri said use of “Take a Break” was in the low single digits before Instagram made it the default for teenagers in September 2024.
“Most teens didn’t want it,” Mosseri said. “We decided to push forward with it anyway.”
The feature, introduced in 2021, prompts users to leave Instagram after spending a set amount of time on the app.
The admission has put a spotlight on the gap between the availability of safety tools and whether teenagers actually used them.
When “Take a Break” was launched in December 2021, Mosseri wrote that more than 90 per cent of teenagers who switched the feature on continued using it.
But that figure applied only to those who had activated the feature. Its overall reach was far smaller, with adoption reportedly at just 1-2 per cent of teenage accounts before it became a default setting.
Mosseri acknowledged that Instagram had not disclosed the low adoption rate at the time.
The states challenging Meta argue that making such safeguards difficult to find or optional undermined their effectiveness.
The testimony forms part of a landmark case brought by 29 U.S. states, which accuse Meta of deliberately designing Instagram and Facebook to keep young people engaged while downplaying the risks to their wellbeing.
Four states - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - have made broader allegations that Meta's platforms contribute to anxiety, depression and suicide among young users.
All 29 states also allege that Meta unlawfully collected and used the personal information of children under 13.
The states could seek civil penalties approaching $200 billion if Meta is found liable.
Meta has rejected the allegations, arguing that its research has not established a clear link between adolescent social media use and poor wellbeing.
Mosseri also denied allegations that he or other executives were shielded from information about risks to teenagers.
“I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,” he told the court. “I want to understand how things work.”
Earlier in the trial, Instagram Product Design Director Francesco Fogu gave evidence about internal research into teenage safety.
Fogu acknowledged that data had been removed from a 2023 presentation showing teenage Instagram users encountered 1.5 times more bullying, suicide, hate, nudity and violent content than adult users. He later told Meta's lawyers that the figure appeared on another slide.
He also acknowledged that Instagram knew fewer teenagers would use “Take a Break” if it was not enabled by default.
The case is one of several legal battles Meta is facing over the impact of its platforms on children and teenagers.
The trial comes after a separate Los Angeles case in which jurors found Meta and Google negligent in the design of their platforms and awarded $6 million to a young woman who said she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child.
Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million following a case brought by the state's attorney general, who accused the company of contributing to harm among young people.
The latest trial could last up to six weeks. Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict, while U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will ultimately decide whether Meta is liable and, if so, what penalties or changes should follow.
For Meta, the central issue is no longer simply whether teenagers use its platforms. The court is being asked to examine how deliberately those platforms were designed to keep them there - and whether the company's safety measures went far enough.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature&rs...
U.S. President Donald Trump has again said Iran is keen to reach a deal quickly, but a senior Iranian security official rejected the claim, saying ...
A drone hit a petrol station in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
U.S. Central Command said 101 commercial vessels have been redirected in the Strait of Hormuz, while oil prices rose more than three per cent amid fresh regional attacks and supply concerns.
A Russian strike on a farm warehouse in Pryluky, north-central Ukraine, has killed at least three people, local police said. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said an attack on a train near the Polish border was an attempt to intimidate Ukraine's allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump has again said Iran is keen to reach a deal quickly, but a senior Iranian security official rejected the claim, saying Tehran will not negotiate until its conditions are met.
A drone hit a petrol station in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that there was also a strike on warehouse facilities in another part of the city.
University students in Mexico have held a vigil for a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student killed in the central state of Morelos, with authorities investigating her death as a possible feminicide.
Every day since a torrent of mud and rocks destroyed a Nepal-China border crossing high up in the Himalayas last month, Arushi Gupta's parents have called and messaged their missing daughter hoping she somehow survived.
Foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand delivered opening statements on Tuesday at the first meeting of a UN arbitration process to resolve a long-running maritime dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
A federal judge has halted a Trump administration immigration policy that would have significantly changed how long foreign students, exchange visitors and international journalists can remain in the United States.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment