Instagram Chief Concedes Teen Safety Tool Reached Almost No One

OAKLAND, Calif. — The head of Instagram told a courtroom on Tuesday that one of the company's flagship teen-safety features was used by fewer than two in a hundred young users, as Meta defends itself against state lawsuits accusing it of designing its apps to addict children.

Adam Mosseri was testifying about Take a Break, a 2021 feature that prompts teenagers to pause after a set period in the app. An internal document entered into evidence put usage at about 1.8% of teens at one point. Mosseri said the prompt "helped, but not nearly as much as we hoped," and that he wished it had been fixed sooner.

Meta made the feature a default on teen accounts in late 2024, which Mosseri said rendered the earlier uptake figures "entirely moot." Colorado deputy attorney general Jason Slothouber countered that the change came after the states sued in 2023, and pressed him on a blog post he wrote at the feature's launch saying "more than 90%" of users kept it on — a claim, Slothouber said, that omitted how few had switched it on in the first place.

Asked whether parents or users could have known that only 1% to 2% of teens were using the tool, Mosseri answered, "Correct," and confirmed the company has never disclosed the number.

The defense

Mosseri argued that Take a Break and Quiet Mode, which silences notifications, were two measures among many. "In general, there are no silver bullets to problems like this. We have to do many things that add up," he said — a compressed version of Meta's case that it understood the risks and acted on them.

The suit, brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, accuses the company of deliberately designing its platforms to hook children, harvesting their data and concealing evidence of harm. Meta's lawyers deny it.

Mosseri was also questioned about internal messages saying company lawyers had advised product teams to limit what data he was shown, to reduce his "litigation exposure." He said he was unaware of the exchange, that it "makes sense" for people preparing documents to want accurate information, and agreed a product designer would be better placed than a lawyer to decide what product data reaches him.

He objected to the use of excerpts. "I think parents want to have good information about services, risks, etc. That's different than reporters or lawyers taking small bits from much larger documents and focusing on them," he said.

What is at stake

Meta reported in July that Instagram has about 2 billion daily active users. Roughly six in 10 U.S. teenagers say they use it, and about half use it daily. Damage estimates cited by observers have run as high as $1.4 trillion, close to the company's entire market value, a scale that has led some legal analysts to compare the case to the tobacco litigation of the 1990s.

Mosseri, who joined the company in 2008 and took over Instagram in 2018, is expected to remain on the stand. The trial is expected to run several more weeks.