Adam Mosseri stated that the Take a Break feature on Instagram was not as helpful as anticipated.

      Adam Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2018, testified before a federal jury in Oakland that the app's "Take a Break" feature “helped, but not nearly as much as we hoped,” with internal documents revealing that only 1.8% of teenagers utilized it. A blog post from Meta at that time claimed that over 90% of users who activated the feature kept it on, a narrative now scrutinized in a trial involving figures amounting to trillions.

      These two statistics are not contradictory, which is part of the issue. One indicates retention rates within the small segment that enabled the feature, while the other reflects the total number of teenagers who ever used it, and only one figure appeared in the blog post. Mosseri admitted during questioning that Meta did not disclose the low adoption rate to parents or the public, a revelation that plaintiffs can leverage for their closing arguments.

      The lawsuit is filed by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, among 29 states accusing Meta of causing harm to youth, and they are seeking approximately $200 billion. Jury selection commenced on August 12, and the trial is anticipated to last around five more weeks.

      Colorado's attorney Jason Slothouber focused on the timing of the feature's implementation rather than its design. Meta withheld data on its effectiveness even after being sued in 2023 and only made "Take a Break" the default setting for teen accounts in late 2024, well after the litigation had begun. This sequence is the core of the states’ argument, which posits that Meta did create safety features, found that they were ineffective, concealed that information, and only released a more effective version due to legal pressure.

      An exchange occurred regarding the extent of data Mosseri was shown, and if it had been limited by lawyers. He conceded, “A lawyer would be a less qualified designer than a product designer,” which significantly emphasizes the issue of what the company knew.

      The damaging aspect of this exchange lies not in a feature's failure; product failures are common. A company that releases a wellbeing tool and discovers it is largely unused has gained valuable insights, assuming it is transparent about those insights.

      Mosseri is a key witness, being the public representative of Instagram's teen safety efforts for years, including congressional appearances. The states have invoked earlier witnesses to suggest the issue is more cultural than technical. Instagram has made various updates since then, including the introduction of teen accounts with built-in restrictions and parental oversight tools. The states argue that the timing of these updates aligns more closely with the litigation schedule than with research findings.

      Throughout the trial, Meta has maintained a consistent defense, asserting that social media addiction is not a recognized clinical condition, that it has made significant investments in teen safety, and that the plaintiffs' claims of damages do not relate to any demonstrable harm.

      Mosseri seemed to maintain this stance regarding the clinical aspect, differentiating between problematic use and addiction as defined in medical terminology. Whether a jury will find that distinction significant is separate from psychiatric opinions on the matter.

      The jury is also tasked with evaluating a complex question that courts are not ideally equipped to address: whether a design choice results in harm at a population level. Expert testimony on this issue has been subject to dispute, with both sides presenting their researchers.

      This trial is just one of several challenges Meta faces. The company is also dealing with a Tennessee jury regarding Instagram's addictive design, and a federal appeals court refused to halt the Oakland proceedings just days before jury selection began. Mosseri's testimony will continue on Wednesday, and the 1.8% statistic is now part of the record, likely to have lasting implications beyond the trial itself.