New Delhi

A former Meta engineering director testified in a US federal court that Instagram took a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to children under 13, prioritising user engagement and growth over safety, accusing the company of harming young users, according to multiple reports.

Arturo Bejar -- who has previously testified before Congress on child safety -- said during his second day on the stand that Meta measured employee performance and compensation largely by engagement metrics such as user numbers and time spent on the platform.

“In that context, safety was an afterthought,” he said according to the reports.

Bejar also testified that his research found “tens of thousands” of children under 13 using Instagram and that it was “common knowledge” within the company that such young users were using the application. The trial that pits Meta against California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, saw Bejar pointing out that Meta had sophisticated systems to detect fake accounts but it did not have any "goals or metrics" for employees to detect and check the ages of children suspected to be under 13. The states leading the charge in federal court are among 29 that sued the tech giant in 2023, accusing it of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features that encouraged children to become addicted to its platforms. Reports suggest that the lawsuit also alleged that Meta routinely collected data from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law.