New Delhi, August 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Instagram followed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach towards users under the age of 13, prioritising user engagement and growth over child safety, former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar has told a US federal court, according to media reports.
Bejar, who has previously testified before the US Congress on child safety, made the remarks while appearing for a second day in a trial involving Meta and the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.
He testified that Meta largely assessed employee performance and compensation through engagement metrics such as user numbers and time spent on its platforms, leaving safety as a secondary concern.
“In that context, safety was an afterthought,” Bejar was quoted as saying.
He also told the court that his research had identified “tens of thousands” of children under 13 using Instagram and that their presence on the platform was “common knowledge” within the company.
According to reports, Bejar said Meta had sophisticated systems for identifying fake accounts but lacked specific employee “goals or metrics” for detecting and verifying the ages of children suspected to be under 13.
The case stems from a wider lawsuit filed in 2023 by 29 US states, which accused Meta of contributing to a youth mental health crisis by allegedly designing features that encouraged children to become excessively engaged with its platforms. The lawsuit also alleges that Meta collected data from children under 13 without parental consent, potentially violating federal law.
Meta has rejected the allegations and maintained that evidence presented during the trial would demonstrate its commitment to user safety.
Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt said the company recognised its responsibility to address issues surrounding teen mental health and social media use, including by working with young people and their parents.
Bejar also criticised Instagram’s “Take a Break” feature, introduced in 2021, arguing that it was ineffective because users had to activate it themselves and could easily dismiss its prompts.
“A safety tool has to be on by default,” he said, arguing that safety measures should not depend entirely on users choosing to activate them.
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