Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is currently on trial in the United States over claims that it designed its platforms to be addictive to young users despite mental health concerns. On Tuesday, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's head since 2018, testified as the trial entered its second week.

Mosseri acknowledged that only a small percentage—1 to 2 percent—of teenage accounts used Instagram's “Take a Break” feature before it was made the default setting in September 2024, nearly three years after its initial launch. He denied allegations by US states suing Meta that Instagram delayed making this feature the default for teenagers. Mosseri also said that safety features were later enabled by default in Teen Accounts, which launched in 2024 and include parental controls.

However, former Meta employees have criticized the company, stating that features like Take a Break and Quiet Mode were difficult to locate and not widely used, raising doubts about Meta's commitment to limiting screen time for young users. George Volichenko, a data scientist who worked on Instagram's safety features in 2022 and 2023, testified that adoption rates for these features were "very low" and that company leadership declined to approve turning on Quiet Mode by default for young teenagers.

The trial highlights growing scrutiny of social media's impact on children's mental health and the responsibilities of tech companies in protecting young users.

Sources