Instagram chief testified only 1% to 2% of teens used safety tool
What's new: Adam Mosseri acknowledged parents were never told how few teens used “Take a Break” before Meta made it default in 2024.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri told a federal court in Oakland, California, that only a low-single-digit share of teens used the app’s “Take a Break” feature before Meta switched it on by default for teen accounts in 2024. In testimony in the 29-state child-safety case against Meta, Mosseri said the tool helped “not nearly as much as we hoped” and agreed parents had no way to know that uptake was about 1% to 2%. State attorneys argue Meta designed Instagram and Facebook to hook young users and misled the public about safety measures while violating children’s privacy law. Meta denies the claims. Mosseri also rejected suggestions he encouraged staff to withhold internal safety research.