Instagram tracked the time users spent on its app, with company executives flagging milestones the app reached year after year. According to documentation revealed during CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony in a state court case in Los Angeles County Superior Court in February, the app’s daily usage grew from 40 minutes per day in 2023 to 46 minutes per day in 2026.
This focus on time-spent metrics is a key factor in the lawsuit, which features one of Zuckerberg’s rare appearances before a jury. In the case, K.G.M. v. Platforms et al., a jury will determine whether social media companies are liable for youth mental health issues caused by their platforms or their addictive designs. While Snap and TikTok settled before the trial began, executives from Meta and YouTube are providing testimony.
The 19-year-old plaintiff, who goes by the initials K.G.M. or “Kaley,” states that using social media at a young age harmed her mental health, leading to an addiction to the technology and the development of depression, including thoughts of suicide.
Meta disputes that its app is responsible for Kaley’s troubles. A company spokesperson said the evidence will show she faced many significant challenges well before she ever used social media, and the question for the jury is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in her struggles.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs aim to prove that Meta set internal goals to increase user time on Instagram despite knowing minors were on the platform. During Zuckerberg’s testimony, he was pressed on why he told Congress in 2024 that children under 13 were not allowed on Instagram, when a 2015 internal document showed the company knew of about 4 million children under 13 on the app. That figure represented 30% of all 10- to 12-year-olds in the U.S.
Zuckerberg pushed back, saying he answered Congress honestly by stating company policy and that Instagram removed underage users it found. He also clarified that the tracked milestones were not the same as specific goals the team was tasked to achieve.
However, other documents referenced by the plaintiff’s legal team pointed to Instagram’s interest in the tween and teen demographic. One email from a former product manager stated, “Our overall company goal is total teen time spent,” and that “Mark has decided that the top priority for the company in the first half of 2017 is teens.” A December 2018 market landscape analysis also found tweens were the highest retention age group in the U.S.
Another email, from former Zuckerberg adviser Nick Clegg, pointed out that Instagram’s age requirements were basically unenforceable. The plaintiff’s lawyers argued that, despite knowing about underage users, Instagram did not take action to address them until August 2021, when it began requiring users to enter their birthdays. Meta responded that it began asking for ages at sign-up for new users in 2019.
Though Instagram has more recently rolled out teen protections and parental controls, its focus on the young demographic remains. Other internal documentation indicated that Meta’s current hope is for Instagram to be the largest teen destination by monthly active users in the U.S. and globally this year.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide or needs to talk, there are people who want to help. Call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
This article was corrected after publication to note that this is not Zuckerberg’s first appearance before a jury, as he previously appeared in a trial focused on Meta’s VR technology.