Mosseri Denies Hiding Instagram Research from Him Amid Landmark Trial

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram at Meta Platforms Inc., testified on Tuesday in a social media addiction trial that he doesn't instruct his team to withhold information from him that could pose potential legal liabilities. 'I'm not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,' Mosseri said.

Mosseri was responding to questioning from trial attorney Jason Slothouber with the Colorado Attorney General's office, who asked if he was aware that Meta attorneys may have asked internal staff not to share information related to safety research for kids under 13 and teen mental health concerns. Mosseri said he 'wouldn't be surprised' if Meta lawyers reviewed child-related safety research for complicated legal and policy reasons, but would be taken aback if the motivations were to provide cover in case of potential litigation and mislead the public.

The trial is being co-led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the AGs from Colorado, New Jersey, and Kentucky, representing a bipartisan group of 29 AGs. They are seeking penalties that could reach $200 billion, alleging that Meta violated the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and consumer protection statutes.

Mosseri acknowledged that Meta curbed the number of employees who could access certain internal research following whistleblower Frances Haugen's 2021 leaking of corporate documents related to children and teen mental health. Mosseri said Meta made the policy changes because 'we don't want anything to be taken out of context,' similar to what executives say happened with the leaked documents, published by the Wall Street Journal as part of The Facebook Files series.