Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified that only a low-single-digit share of teenagers—about 1 or 2 percent of accounts—used Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature before Instagram switched it on by default. He was questioned in the United States trial over claims that Meta designed its platforms to hook young users.
What Mosseri told the court
Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, denied that Instagram deliberately delayed making Take a Break a default setting for teenagers. The feature encourages users to close the app after a set amount of time.
He said most teenagers had not wanted the feature, but that Instagram proceeded with it anyway. Mosseri also acknowledged that Meta had not disclosed the low adoption rate before the feature became a default in Teen Accounts, which launched in 2024 with parental controls.
Key figures
Related coverage: Why Meta’s US trial could reshape child safety on social media.
- 29 US states brought the lawsuit against Meta.
- The states are seeking approximately $200bn in damages.
- The trial could last six weeks.
- Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict.
Why the feature is disputed
Mosseri had written in a December 2021 blog post that more than 90 percent of teenagers who switched on Take a Break kept it on. In court, he clarified that figure referred only to teenagers who had activated the feature, rather than to all teenage users.
Former Meta employees have challenged the effectiveness of Instagram’s safety tools. Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, testified that Take a Break was “designed to fail”. George Volichenko, who worked on Instagram safety features in 2022 and 2023, said adoption of such tools was very low and that leadership declined to make Quiet Mode the default for young teenagers. He said automatic activation would have had a notable negative effect on user engagement.
What the lawsuit alleges
Four states—California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey—accuse Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, contributing to anxiety, depression and suicide, while misleading consumers about safety. Meta rejects the addiction allegations and says its research found no clear link between adolescent social media use and poor wellbeing.
More context: What the Meta social media addiction trial could change.
All 29 states also allege that Meta violated US federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13 while they used its platforms.
What happens next
The trial could continue for six weeks. Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict, after which US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether Meta is liable and, if so, determine civil penalties and changes to Facebook and Instagram.
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