During the trila, Mosseri denied allegations that Instagram tried to hide information related to children’s safety
Instagram’s ‘Take a Break’ feature and teen safety under scrutiny
Adam Mosseri said the feature was used by only a low-single-digit percentage of teenagers before Instagram changed its approach in September 2024, nearly three years after launching it. Adam Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, testified in a federal court in Oakland, California, as part of a lawsuit brought by 29 US states against Meta. When the feature was launched in December 2021, Mosseri had said that early tests showed more than 90% of teenagers who turned it on continued using it. All 29 states involved in the lawsuit have also accused Meta of improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13. The states could seek nearly $200 billion in civil penalties, according to Reuters.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said that only a small percentage of teenagers used Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature before the company made it a default setting for young users. “Most teens didn’t want it,” Mosseri said. When an attorney representing Colorado questioned him, Mosseri acknowledged that few teenagers had used the “Take a Break” feature before it was turned on by default.
The feature, which encourages users to step away from Instagram after spending a set amount of time on the app, became a key point of discussion during an ongoing US trial examining whether Meta designed Instagram and Facebook in ways that could make children addicted to them. “We decided to push forward with it anyway. However, he rejected claims that Instagram deliberately delayed making the safety feature the default option. The feature encourages users to close Instagram and take a break after a set period.