Instagram CEO Dismisses Social Media Addiction Claims in High-Stakes Trial
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri took the witness stand on Wednesday in a landmark California trial, firmly rejecting the notion that users can become addicted to social media platforms. "I think it's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use," Mosseri stated during his testimony. This distinction comes as psychologists have not officially classified social media addiction as a medical diagnosis, despite growing research documenting harmful compulsive behaviors among young users worldwide.
Families Seek Justice for Alleged Harm Caused by Addictive Designs
Mosseri represents the first executive to testify in a series of bellwether trials where hundreds of families and school districts have filed lawsuits against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube. The plaintiffs allege these companies knowingly created addictive products that damage young people's mental health. The initial Los Angeles trial focuses on a 20-year-old identified as KGM, who claims Instagram's design features—including endless scrolling—worsened her depression and suicidal thoughts.
Parents whose children died allegedly due to social media's addictive design gathered outside the courthouse, including John DeMay, whose 17-year-old son Jordan died by suicide in 2022 after being targeted in an online sextortion scam. Nigerian brothers using a hacked Instagram account pretended to be a girl, blackmailing Jordan after he sent nude photographs and demanding $1,000 while threatening to share the images with his family and friends.
Internal Documents Reveal Company Concerns About Addictive Nature
During opening arguments, plaintiffs' attorney Mark Lanier presented internal Meta and Google documents suggesting these companies targeted children as young as four years old. Lanier described social media apps as "digital casinos" due to features like endless scrolling. One particularly damning internal Meta correspondence revealed an employee stating "IG is a drug," while another commented, "LOL, I mean, all social media. We're basically pushers."
A separate internal conversation mentioned that Mosseri "freaked out when I talked about dopamine in my teen fundamentals lead review, but it is undeniable. It is biological. It is psychological." These documents have become central to the plaintiffs' argument that social media companies knowingly prioritized growth over safety.
Legal Strategy Focuses on Product Design Rather Than Content
The plaintiffs' novel legal approach concentrates on allegations that social media companies deliberately engineered addictive products, allowing them to bypass federal laws that typically protect platforms from liability for harmful third-party content. Matthew P Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, stated: "Adam Mosseri's testimony under oath today revealed what families have long suspected: Instagram's executives made a conscious decision to put growth over the safety of minors."
Meta's legal team has countered by disputing the scientific basis for social media addiction claims, arguing that KGM's mental health issues stemmed from familial abuse rather than platform use. YouTube's lawyers have similarly rejected assertions that their platform qualifies as social media or that users can become addicted to it.
Safety Features Fall Short According to Independent Review
While Instagram has implemented some safety features for younger users in recent years, a 2025 review by Fairplay—a nonprofit advocating for reduced big tech influence on children—found that "less than one in five are fully functional and two-thirds (64%) are either substantially ineffective or no longer exist." This assessment raises questions about the effectiveness of current protective measures.
John DeMay, who attended tech executives' Congressional testimony on child safety in January 2024, expressed greater faith in judicial rather than legislative solutions. "Every time we try to get something legislatively done it's a grind. I've lost a lot of hope and I know other parents have, too," DeMay said. He believes financial pressure from lawsuits could force meaningful change: "These companies—when they start getting sued for hundreds of millions of dollars by all these victims for the harms that they've been perpetrating on their users for so long—they're going to be forced to make changes or else they're going to go broke."
The trial continues as both sides present evidence about whether social media platforms' design features constitute knowingly harmful products that have contributed to youth mental health crises and tragic outcomes for vulnerable users.
