Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri to testify in federal trial against Meta over alleged platform addiction
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, is slated to appear in federal court in Oakland as part of a lawsuit by state attorneys general accusing Meta of designing its apps to addict children.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is expected to testify on Tuesday in a federal case in Oakland, California, that accuses Meta Platforms and its social-media services of targeting children and fostering addictive use. The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of 29 state attorneys general in October 2023, alleges the company designed Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to engage minors and misled users about safety.
Four states – California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky – are leading the case and presented opening statements last week. The plaintiffs seek damages that Meta says could total up to $1.4 trillion.
Meta has denied the allegations. > "The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate," a Meta spokesperson told ABC News. > "The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification."
Mosseri, who has overseen Instagram’s design and engineering since 2018, previously testified in a California state court case involving a 20-year-old plaintiff who said she became dependent on social-media apps from age six. In that testimony he distinguished “clinical addiction” from “problematic use,” describing the latter as users spending “too much time” on the platform, and noted a trade-off between safety measures and user experience.
The trial continues as the states pursue the case and Meta prepares its defense.