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Instagram head Adam Mosseri said company policies evolved

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Trial tests U.S. law shielding platforms from liability

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Bereaved parents attended trial in Los Angeles

(Updates to show testimony has ended in paragraph 2, adds

detail in paragraph 6, 8, 11, 12, parent's quote in paragraph

14-15, adds that trial will resume Friday in paragraph 19)

By Jody Godoy and Courtney Rozen

LOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The top executive at

Meta Platforms' ( META ) ​Instagram defended the social media

platform's choices around features that some company insiders

called harmful ‌to young users, at a trial on claims the app

helped fuel a youth mental-health crisis.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, testified in Los

Angeles as part of a trial on what ⁠plaintiffs call "social media

addiction" in children and young adults. Meta CEO Mark

Zuckerberg is also expected to testify in the coming weeks.

A California ⁠woman who began using Instagram at age 9 is

suing Meta and Google's YouTube, saying the companies ‌sought to

profit by hooking young ‌children on their services despite

knowing social media could harm their mental health. She alleges

the platforms contributed to her depression and body dysmorphia.

In 2019, Mosseri and others at Instagram were ​discussing

whether to lift a ban on photo filters that mimicked the effects

of ‌plastic surgery, according to emails shown in court.

Instagram teams working on policy, communications and

well-being preferred to keep the ban in place while gathering

more data on potential harms to teen girls.

"We would - rightly - be accused of putting ​growth over

responsibility," if the company lifted the ban, said Nick Clegg,

who ​was then Meta's ‌vice president of global affairs, according

to emails shown in court.

Mosseri and Zuckerberg preferred to reverse the ban but

remove the filters from the app's recommendation section, an

option described in emails as presenting "a notable well-being

risk" but having a lower impact on ⁠user growth.

"I was trying to balance all the different considerations,"

Mosseri said in court, adding that he agreed with the ultimate

decision ⁠to allow face-altering filters without highlighting

them for users, but prohibit filters that overtly promoted

plastic surgery.

"Our policies, like our products, evolve all the time. We

try to focus on the most important issues," he said.

'MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS'

Access to social media for children has become an issue

globally, with Australia in December becoming the first nation

to prohibit use of the platforms for children younger than 16.

Spain, Greece, Britain and France are ⁠among the many ‌countries

considering similar action.

In the U.S., Meta, YouTube and other social media platforms

face a wave of ‌litigation from families, school districts and

state attorneys general.

For the Los Angeles jury to find the companies liable, they

will have to find that Meta ⁠and YouTube were negligent in

designing or operating the platforms, and that their products

were a substantial factor in harms to the woman's mental health.

Several parents who say social media platforms led to their

children's deaths sat in the front row of the courtroom

audience.

Victoria Hinks, whose daughter died by suicide at age 16,

said their children had been "collateral damage" to Silicon

Valley's "move fast and break things" culture.

"Our children were the first guinea pigs," she told

reporters outside the courthouse.

"Move fast and break things," the company's early motto

coined by Zuckerberg, is no longer appropriate, Mosseri said in

his testimony.

The case is a key test of a U.S. law ​that protects online

platforms from liability for user-created content, which has

long shielded social media companies from lawsuits. The outcome

of the case will influence how the companies respond to hundreds

of similar lawsuits in the U.S.

Meta's lawyers cited the law in objecting to some evidence

presented in court. The company could ​raise the issue on appeal

if it loses at trial.

The trial ‌is scheduled to continue on Friday.