- Instagram boss Adam Mosseri insists the app is not addictive
- Social media apps are on trial for causing mental health issues
- There is ‘problematic use’ in some cases, Mosseri admits
Adam Mosseri, who has been the head of Instagram since 2018, has had some interesting things to say about addiction on the platform. Mosseri was speaking at a high-profile trial in California investigating the mental health impacts of social media.
Meta’s social platforms and YouTube are currently in the dock. They’re accused of designing their apps to be as addictive as possible, leading to compulsive use that drives health problems such as body dysmorphia, anxiety, and depression.
“It’s important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use,” Mosseri said (via the BBC). When it was put to him that the main plaintiff in the case, known as KGM, had once spent 16 hours on the platform, he said “that sounds like problematic use”.
“I’m sure I’ve said that I’ve been addicted to a Netflix show when I binged it really late one night, but I don’t think it’s the same thing as clinical addiction,” Mosseri went on to say, refusing to label the user behavior described in the trial as addictive.
‘Digital casinos’
While Meta and YouTube are defending themselves, Snap and TikTok have already settled with KGM out of court. The 20-year-old Californian woman sued the social media platforms in 2023, and opening statements have been heard this week.
KGM’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, has argued that these apps and services are essentially “digital casinos”, and has highlighted that internal documents from these accused companies have compared their technology with Big Tobacco.
Meta’s defense is that the mental health issues of KGM were brought about primarily by other factors in her life, including abuse and problems at home. However, the plaintiff had previously made over 300 complaints to Instagram about bullying on the platform.
The trial comes as social media companies face increasing scrutiny over the impacts their algorithms and features have on users. Late last year, Australia banned under-16s from social media, a move that other countries are also considering.
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