The head of Instagram defended his platform in a California court this week, arguing that excessive social media use is a "personal thing," as a landmark trial examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube began. Adam Mosseri, who has led Instagram for eight years, testified in the trial, making him the first high-profile executive to appear. The trial is expected to last six weeks and serves as a test of legal arguments aimed at holding tech firms accountable for impacts on young people.
The trial, which began this week, has seen the world's largest social media companies accused of creating "addiction machines," according to North America Technology correspondent Lily Jamali. Mark Lanier, representing the plaintiff "K.G.M.," argued that his client suffered from mental health issues as a result of her social media addiction. "These companies built machines designed to addict the brains of children, and they did it on purpose," Lanier said, according to Jamali. Lawyers for Meta, which owns Instagram, have argued that K.G.M.'s addiction stemmed from other issues in her life.
In other news, a report by the children's commissioner for England found that children are routinely exposed to adverts for weight loss injections and pills online, according to Laura Cress, a technology reporter. The report stated that young people were "bombarded" with ads for products which claimed to change their bodies and appearance, despite this kind of advertising being banned. Dame Rachel de Souza said the posts were "immensely damaging" to young people's self-esteem and called for a ban on social media advertising to children. A spokesperson for the media regulator Ofcom said it did not tolerate "tech firms prioritising engagement over children's online safety," according to Cress.
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the mother of two young women who were badly injured in the New Year's Day fire in the resort of Crans-Montana had a private encounter with the couple who own the bar where the fire occurred, according to the BBC World. Leila Micheloud had said earlier she wanted to "speak privately" to Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who were attending a hearing on the fire that left 41 people dead and 115 injured. A lawyer for the victims' families, Sébastien Fanti, said it was "an extremely intense moment and rare in its humanity," without going into what was said.
In other news, food fraud continues to persist, even with improving technology, according to Christine Ro, a technology reporter. Food crime mostly goes unreported, making it difficult to grasp its scale. It can include diluting or substituting ingredients, altering documents, or going through unapproved processes. One 2025 estimate is that food crime costs the global economy around $81 billion a year. Fraudsters tend to target commonly consumed foods, like dairy, and high-value foods, like olive oil. Honey is frequently among the most common foods that are faked.
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