A former engineering director on Wednesday (local time) accused Instagram of taking a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach toward children under 13 on its platform, alleging that safety was treated as secondary to user engagement and profits, reported.
Testimony in a landmark trial
According to ABC News, Arturo Bejar, who has previously testified before the US Congress about child safety on Instagram, made the remarks during his second day of testimony in a landmark trial against Meta in federal court in Oakland, California.
“The attitude in particular on Instagram was ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell,'” Bejar said when asked about the company’s approach towards users under 13 years of age.
Quick answers to key questions
What are the key allegations against Meta in the lawsuit regarding Instagram’s impact on children?⌵
The lawsuit alleges that Meta designed features that encourage addiction among children, violated privacy laws by collecting data from users under 13 without consent, and prioritized user engagement over child safety.
Why did the former Meta engineer describe Instagram’s approach to children as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’?⌵
Arturo Bejar highlighted that Meta ignored the presence of children under 13 on Instagram, focusing instead on user engagement metrics, which he claims treated safety as a secondary concern.
How did Meta allegedly prioritize profits over child safety according to the trial testimony?⌵
Bejar testified that employee evaluations at Meta were primarily based on user engagement metrics, leading to an environment where the mental well-being of young users was neglected in favor of increasing profits.
What is the significance of the term ‘Meta’s tobacco moment’ in relation to the trial?⌵
The term suggests that this lawsuit could lead to significant financial penalties for Meta, similar to the consequences faced by tobacco companies, as it highlights supposed deceptions regarding the harmful effects of its platforms on children’s mental health.
Should parents be concerned about the presence of children under 13 on Instagram?⌵
Yes, given the allegations that Meta has knowingly allowed underage users on its platform and failed to implement effective age verification measures, parents should be vigilant about their children’s social media use.
Engagement over well-being, Bejar alleges
Bejar said Meta prioritised how frequently and how long users engaged with its products, even when such engagement could be detrimental to their mental well-being. “If you step away from the product, they are not going to make any money,” he said.
He said that employee performance reviews and compensation for those working on user-facing products were largely based on metrics such as the number of users and the amount of time they spent using the products. “In that context, safety was an afterthought,” he said.
The lawsuit
The trial, which began on Tuesday (local time), pits Meta against California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The states are among 29 that sued the tech giant in 2023, accusing it of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features that encouraged children to become addicted to its platforms.
The lawsuit also alleges that Meta routinely collected data from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law.
Meta’s response
Meta has rejected the allegations and said evidence presented during the trial will demonstrate its commitment to safety.
“You will hear over the course of this case a lot of important issues, issues like teen mental health, issues like social media, issues like how teens use social media,” Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt said on August 17, as cited by ABC News.
“Those are important issues, and they’re issues where Meta believes that it has a responsibility. It has a responsibility to act on its own. It has a responsibility to try to work with teens and parents in partnership to try to address those questions,” he said.
“Tens of thousands” of under-13 users
According to ABC News, Bejar found “tens of thousands” of children under 13 on Instagram through his research and said it was “common knowledge” within the company that such young children were using the platform.
“Meta has one of the most sophisticated infrastructures in the world to detect fake accounts,” he said, adding that there were “no goals, no metrics” to detect and check the ages of children suspected to be under 13.
“Designed to fail”: Bejar on Take a Break feature
Bejar also criticised Meta’s “Take a Break” feature, introduced in 2021, calling it a tool that was “designed to fail”. He said users had to activate the setting themselves and could easily dismiss it.
“A safety tool has to be on by default,” he said.
What the states are seeking
The states are seeking changes to the user experience on Facebook and Instagram as well as financial damages, which could include billions of dollars in penalties. ABC News said the trial is expected to last about six weeks.
Who is Arturo Bejar
According to the news platform, Bejar worked at Facebook from 2009 to 2015 and is known for his work to combat cyberbullying. He returned from 2019 to 2021 as a contractor to work on safety issues. He testified before Congress in 2023 about social media and the teen mental health crisis, saying that Meta executives, including CEO , knew about harms Instagram was causing but chose not to make meaningful changes to address them.
