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Instagram CEO denies company hid low use of teen safety feature in Meta trial

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Instagram CEO denies company hid low use of teen safety feature in Meta trial

Adam Mosseri is first top executive from Meta to testify in blockbuster lawsuit brought by 29 US states

Instagram’s CEO disputed allegations by US prosecutors that his company hid negative information from the public while testifying during a blockbuster social media trial.

“I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,” the CEO, Adam Mosseri, told a California courtroom on Tuesday.

Mosseri is the first top executive from Meta, which owns both Instagram and Facebook, to testify in a historic lawsuit brought by 29 US states. His testimony began toward the end of the day on Tuesday and is slated to continue on Wednesday.

When the executive was posed with multiple questions about not disclosing low user numbers for Instagram’s features geared toward teen safety, he brushed them aside, saying: “We don’t publish every single stat.”

Jason Slothouber, a prosecutor for the state of Colorado, asked specifically about a tool called Take a Break, meant to encourage teens to close Instagram if they’d been scrolling for a while. Slothouber pointed out that just 1.8% of teens signed up for the feature, and that while Mosseri had touted the tool, he never publicly disclosed that number.

“I’ve definitely said publicly that the opt-in rates are low,” Mosseri responded. “I don’t know if I’ve said numbers.”

The jury trial, taking place in federal court in Oakland, California, began with opening statements last week. The lawsuit centers on the states’ allegations that Meta deliberately designed addictive products that hooked young people, leading to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicide.


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