Instagram chief tells addiction trial few teenagers knew of safety feature
The federal court trial in California is one of the highest-profile tests of allegations that social media companies have harmed young users.
Instagram's CEO, Adam Mosseri, testified in a federal court trial that few teenagers were using a key safety feature called "Take a Break" before it was made a default setting in September 2024. The feature encourages users to close the app after set periods of time due to concerns about the platforms being addictive to young users.
US states suing Meta accused the company of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users, potentially causing anxiety, depression, and even suicide. The trial in California is one of the highest-profile tests of these allegations. Mosseri estimated that in early tests, more than 90% of teenage users who turned on the feature kept it on, but the percentage before it became a default was in the low-single digits.
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