Leaked Plan: How Instagram Tried to Win Back Teens
- Key Takeaways:
- Leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post show Meta pursued a yearslong strategy to bring teens back to Instagram.
- Two weeks after dozens of state attorneys general sued Meta over teen safety and addiction concerns, Instagram head Adam Mosseri circulated a memo urging staff to "bring more teens to Instagram."
- The records indicate the push continued despite public criticism that the platform was unsafe for adolescents and growing regulatory scrutiny.
What the leaked documents reveal
The documents, described in reporting by The Washington Post, outline a sustained internal effort at Instagram to increase teen users. Company materials label the effort as a long-running strategy rather than a single campaign.
The disclosures show leadership prioritized reversing declines in teenage engagement even as public scrutiny intensified. The memos and internal notes emphasize user growth as a central objective.
Internal push from Adam Mosseri
According to the reporting, Adam Mosseri — head of Instagram — sent an internal memo asking employees to focus on one overarching goal: "bring more teens to Instagram." The memo came shortly after a wave of legal actions and public criticism.
The timing — two weeks after dozens of state attorneys general sued Meta alleging the company contributed to adolescent addiction and posed safety risks — underscores how product priorities and legal pressures overlapped.
Safety concerns and legal pressure
State attorneys general have accused Meta of practices that increased the risk to adolescent users and fostered addictive behaviors. Those allegations have placed Instagram under new legal and regulatory scrutiny.
Leaked records suggest the company continued to pursue teen growth despite those external concerns, raising questions about how platforms balance product goals with user safety and compliance.
What the documents do not say
The publicly reported materials focus on strategy and priorities rather than granular product changes. The leaks do not present a comprehensive list of tactics Instagram used to attract teens; they instead show senior leadership emphasizing the importance of reversing declines in teenage engagement.
Why this matters
The revelations matter for regulators, parents and policymakers assessing how social platforms design experiences for young users. If growth targets were prioritized over safety measures, that could affect ongoing investigations, legislation and public trust in Meta and Instagram.
As scrutiny of Big Tech continues, leaked internal documents like these give regulators and the public a clearer picture of company priorities — and the trade-offs those priorities can imply.
