Instagram CEO Admits Teen Safety Feature Saw Low Uptake
Theo Al Jazeera English
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri admitted in court that very few teens used the 'Take a Break' feature before it was made mandatory, as Meta faces a massive lawsuit over allegedly addictive platforms. The trial, brought by 29 U.S. states, seeks $200 billion in damages over claims that Meta designed its apps to hook young users.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified on August 19 that very few teenagers used the 'Take a Break' feature—designed to curb addiction—before the company was forced to enable it by default. His testimony came during the second week of a landmark U.S. trial where Meta faces allegations that it engineered platforms like Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users.
Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, rejected claims from states that Meta deliberately delayed making 'Take a Break' the default for teens until September 2024, nearly three years after its launch. 'Most teens didn't want it,' Mosseri said. 'We decided to push it anyway.'
The lawsuit, brought by 29 U.S. states, is seen by experts as the most significant legal challenge yet to social media's impact on young users. Four states—California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey—accuse Meta of designing its platforms to 'addict' young users, leading to anxiety, depression, and even suicide, while deceiving consumers about safety. All 29 states also claim Meta violated federal law by collecting and using personal data from children under 13.
The states are seeking around $200 billion in damages.
Accused of 'Designed to Fail'
Meta denies allegations that it seeks to addict children, asserting its research shows no clear link between teen social media use and mental health deficiencies.
Under questioning from Colorado attorney Jason Slothouber, Mosseri admitted that teen usage of 'Take a Break' was in the low single digits before Instagram made it a default. The feature encourages young users to close the app after a set period. In a December 2021 blog post, Mosseri estimated that over 90% of teens enabled and kept the feature. However, that number only counted those who actively opted in, not actual usage rates.
When asked whether Meta had disclosed the low usage rate (about 1–2% of accounts), Mosseri acknowledged the company had not, but noted safer features were later enabled by default in 'Teen Accounts' launched in 2024, which include parental controls.
Former Meta employees argue that features like 'Take a Break' and 'Quiet Mode' were difficult to find and not widely used, raising questions about the company's commitment to limiting young people's screen time.
'In my experience, Take a Break was designed to fail,' said Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, testifying last week. George Volichenko, a data scientist who worked at Instagram from 2022–2023, also said usage of safety features was 'very low' and that leadership refused to approve making 'Quiet Mode' default for teens. He added that automatically enabling such features would have had a 'significant negative impact' on user engagement.
The trial could last six weeks. The jury is expected to give an advisory verdict, while U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether Meta is legally liable and, if so, what penalties or required changes to Facebook and Instagram would follow.
