The head of Instagram defended his platform against allegations of causing psychological harm to minors, arguing in a California court that excessive social media use is not considered an addiction. Adam Mosseri, who has led Instagram for eight years, testified in the trial that began days ago in Los Angeles, becoming the first high-ranking executive to appear in the case. The jury is considering whether Instagram was a key factor in the plaintiff's suffering, who filed a lawsuit against the platform, accusing it of turning her into an addict after she recorded a period of excessive use that lasted 16 hours. At the start of his testimony, Mosseri agreed with a general point made by Mark Lanier, the plaintiff's lead attorney, that Instagram must do everything in its power to protect users on the platform, especially young people. However, Mosseri said he does not believe it's possible to determine how much Instagram use would be considered too much. Mosseri explained that the question of whether the use is a problem is 'a personal matter,' as one person could use Instagram 'more than you and be okay with it.' He said: 'It's important to distinguish between clinical addiction and problematic use,' adding: 'I'm sure I've said I was addicted to Netflix when I binged it late one night, but I don't think that's a clinical addiction.' Nevertheless, Mosseri reiterated that he is not an addiction expert in response to Lanier's questions. Lanier asked Mosseri for his opinion on the longest single day of Instagram use recorded by the plaintiff in the case, which lasted 16 hours. The head of Instagram replied: 'That seems like problematic use.' But he did not describe it as an addiction.
