Meta knew that its tools for protecting teenagers on Instagram were largely ineffective, according to witnesses testifying at a trial in California. The trial, which entered its second week on Monday, involves 29 US states accusing Meta of lying about the platform's dangers. The social media giant is alleged to have deliberately designed its products to hook children and gather their data while misleading the public.
Internal Meta documents presented to jurors revealed that Take a Break, a feature allowing users to set reminders to stop scrolling, had an adoption rate of 1.8 percent. Quiet Mode, which silences late-night notifications, had an adoption rate of 8.7 percent. Francesco Fogu, Meta's director of product design at Instagram, admitted under questioning that the company anticipated lower adoption rates for tools not enabled by default.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will decide the case based on the jury's verdict, appeared surprised that Fogu was unaware of the internal data. The US states are seeking around $200 billion in penalties against Meta, and a court loss could lead to significant changes in its business model and impact the industry.
Two former Meta employees also testified that Take a Break and Quiet Mode were ineffective. Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, described 'Take a Break' as a feature 'designed to fail.' George Volichenko, a data scientist who worked on Instagram's safety features, stated that the adoption rates for these features were'very low and disappointing,' likening them to 'a drop in the ocean.'
Volichenko testified that Meta's leadership showed little interest in meaningfully boosting the use of these safety features. He noted that Quiet Mode was not enabled by default for younger teens, which significantly reduced its adoption rate as the setting was difficult to locate within the app. Volichenko explained that enabling these safety features by default would have negatively impacted user engagement, which is crucial for Meta's advertising-based business model.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri is scheduled to testify on Tuesday afternoon, and Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also expected to take the stand, according to court documents. The outcome of this trial could have significant implications for Meta's operations and the broader social media industry. For Bangladeshi readers, this case highlights the global scrutiny faced by tech giants and the importance of safeguarding user data and privacy, especially for vulnerable populations like teenagers.
