16 hours a day on Instagram? The CEO claims that it is not an addiction but rather an issue.

This week, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri went in a Los Angeles courtroom to defend his platform against allegations that it negatively impacted the mental health of its teenage users. Because it could establish a precedent for holding social media firms responsible for their effects on children, the trial, which could last six weeks, is being closely watched throughout the United States. Mosseri, who has been in charge of Instagram for eight years, was questioned extensively about how the app might have contributed to the difficulties of the principal plaintiff, a young woman known only as K.G.M.
During the proceedings, Mosseri was asked about K.G.M’s longest single-day use of Instagram — 16 hours. He called it “problematic use,” but stopped short of calling it an addiction. “It’s important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use,” he said, explaining that some people may spend long hours online and still feel fine, comparing it to binge-watching a TV show late into the night. Mosseri’s point suggests a debate at the heart of the trial – when does social media use cross the line from heavy engagement to genuine harm?
The trial has revealed deep tensions between social media growth and user safety. Mosseri admitted he had not been aware that K.G.M had made over 300 reports of bullying on the platform. He also faced questions about Meta’s earlier discussions over image-altering filters, which some executives feared could negatively affect young users’ self-image. While he said the company banned filters that went beyond makeup effects, he later acknowledged that the ban had been “modified.”
The argument spilled onto the streets outside the courthouse. Concerns about the influence of social media on children’s life were raised by parents, demonstrators, and bystanders. Mariano Janin, who lost his daughter Mia, 14, to suicide in 2021, was one of them. He claimed to have traveled from London to witness the trial, while holding a picture of her. Attorneys for Meta contended that K.G.M. had difficulties outside of Instagram and that the social media site was not the only factor contributing to her mental health issues. While Snapchat and TikTok have reached out-of-court settlements over identical claims, YouTube is also implicated in the action