By Michaela Gordoni
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says Instagram’s claims that its platform isn’t addictive are ridiculous.
“My team scoured hundreds of pages of internal Meta communications, including trials they conducted around possible harms to kids or other users. These internal comms were never meant to see the light of day, but were dug up over many trials against Meta,” Haidt began in a post.
“Last week in LA, [Instagram’s CEO] Adam Mosseri faced survivor parents whose children have died due to social media harms (sextortion, cyberbullying, widely available drugs on Snapchat) and said to these parents and the world that a child watching 16 hours of reels is not addiction. It’s just ‘problematic,’” he said. “But in fact, internal Meta documents show Meta leadership is fully aware their products are addictive, especially to kids.”
They don’t restrict addictive or depressive elements for young users either.
“This has been replicated many times for TikTok. On Instagram, it may take longer, but if the algorithm has you tagged as a teen, the irrational body standards, the ‘fitness inspiration’ and the depressive content is never far off,” said Haidt.
Related: Landmark Lawsuit Seeks to Hold Meta Accountable for Addictive Technology
Mosseri argued that it’s “not good for the company, over the long run, to make decisions that profit for us but are poor for people’s well-being.” But that’s exactly what the case is arguing, and people’s endless hours of scrolling obviously benefit the company.
He added, “Often people try to frame things as you either prioritize safety or you prioritize revenue. It’s really hard to imagine any instance where prioritizing safety isn’t good for revenue.”
Mosseri also said Instagram makes “less money from teens than from any other demographic on the app,” because they don’t have financial means.
The trial against Meta and YouTube on the basis that its platforms are harmful to children is still ongoing.
YouTube claims that its platform is not classified as social media.
José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said “The allegations in these complaints are simply not true. Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls.”
Meta responded, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people. For over a decade, we’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most.”
DW reported Snapchat and TikTok were also initially named in the trial, but they closed with the plaintiff for undisclosed amounts.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify on Wednesday.
Read Next: Meta, TikTok, YouTube Will Answer to Addiction Claims in Court
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