Instagram’s chief executive testified on Tuesday that the platform’s teen safety tools had improved over time, in a bellwether federal trial brought by states over social media harms for young users.
The chief executive, Adam Mosseri, argued that Instagram, which is owned by Meta, had bolstered protections for its young users, providing parental controls and enacting tighter restrictions for teenagers. Still, he acknowledged that some of the app’s tools did not change how much or how long young people used it.
“There are no silver bullets for problems like this,” Mr. Mosseri, 43, said in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif.
Mr. Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, was the first Meta executive to testify at the trial, in which California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey accuse the social media giant of violating a federal child privacy law and state consumer protection laws.
The case is part of a flood of lawsuits filed by teenagers, schools and state attorneys general that claim social media use can lead to addiction comparable to addictions to slot machines at casinos or cigarettes.
Meta has denied wrongdoing, arguing that there is no scientific evidence proving that its platforms cause addiction. The company has also pointed to a federal law that protects companies from liability for what its users post online.
The company has lost two similar cases this year. In March, a young woman identified as K.G.M. won a personal injury lawsuit in California Superior Court of Los Angeles County, resulting in $6 million in damages. This month, New Mexico won a consumer protection case against Meta in state court, resulting in nearly $1 billion in financial penalties.
In the latest trial, which kicked off last week, the states accused Meta of violating the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which bans collecting data from minors without parental consent. The states also accused the company of deceiving consumers by promoting the safety of their platforms even though executives internally discussed and studied harms for young people.
On Tuesday, Jason Slothouber, a lawyer for the states, presented an internal Meta document describing the company’s teen safety tools as “proof points” that were not “effective at reducing behaviors.” He asked Mr. Mosseri whether that surprised him. Mr. Mosseri said it did not.
Mr. Slothouber also showed internal messages from 2023 in which employees relayed a lawyer’s warning about “litigation risk” regarding a presentation on youth safety.
“I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,” Mr. Mosseri said.
Mr. Mosseri’s testimony followed that of Francesco Fogu, Instagram’s director of product design, who said he meets with Mr. Mosseri once a month to discuss safety features.
Mr. Slothouber asked Mr. Fogu whether Meta had released tools targeted at teenagers, like “Take a Break” and a quiet or sleep mode, as opt-in features even though the company knew that opt-in settings are far less effective than opt-out. Mr. Fogu agreed, and agreed again when pressed on whether he understood that fewer people would use the tools if they weren’t automatic.
Mr. Mosseri is scheduled to return to the witness stand on Wednesday. The states also plan to call Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify.
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