Former Meta Engineer Says Instagram Took a ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Approach on Kids Under 13

Former Meta engineering director Arturo Béjar testified Wednesday at a landmark federal trial in Oakland, California, stating that Instagram maintained a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding users under the age of 13. According to reporting from The Hindu, Béjar told jurors during his second day on the witness stand that the company routinely prioritized platform engagement and financial growth over user safety.

The Architecture of Engagement and Compliance Risks

The federal lawsuit, which commenced Tuesday in Oakland, pitches Meta against the state attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. These four states represent a larger coalition of 29 states that filed complaints against the tech giant in 2023. According to court filings highlighted by The Hindu, the litigation accuses Meta of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by gathering data on children under 13 without parental consent, while simultaneously driving engagement through algorithms designed to maximize session length.

During his testimony, Béjar pointed directly to internal operational metrics. Employee performance reviews and compensation structures for engineers working on consumer-facing applications were mostly focused on user numbers and time-spent metrics. “In that context, safety was an afterthought,” Béjar stated under questioning.

Evaluating Product Features Against Vulnerable Demographics

Béjar walked the court through specific user interface features built for adult demographics that he argued are inherently hazardous for teenagers. These technical implementations include video autoplay features—which push potentially harmful media streams to users automatically without requiring explicit click events—alongside real-time aggregation counters tracking likes, views, comment volumes, and follower totals.

// Conceptual telemetry event loop prioritizing engagement metrics
function trackUserEngagement(sessionData) {
    const timeSpent = sessionData.duration;
    const interactionCount = sessionData.likes + sessionData.comments;
    
    // Legacy metrics focus purely on volume, ignoring user age heuristics
    database.logMetrics({
        user_id: sessionData.userId,
        active_time: timeSpent,
        total_interactions: interactionCount
    });
}

Child development experts note that adolescent neurological development makes teenagers more susceptible to social comparison loops.

Meta’s Defense and Trial Outlook

Meta has rejected the allegations. Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt outlined the company’s defense during opening statements Tuesday, emphasizing that the platform requires users to be at least 13 years old to establish an account, aligning with COPPA requirements. Schmidt told the court that evidence presented over the expected six-week trial duration will demonstrate the company’s commitment to safety and its ongoing collaborative work with teens and parents.

Béjar’s history with the firm spans two distinct eras. He worked at Facebook from 2009 to 2015 focusing on cyberbullying countermeasures, and subsequently returned as a contractor from 2019 to 2021 to work on safety issues. His previous disclosures culminated in congressional testimony in 2023, where he asserted that executive leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, understood the platform risks but failed to execute meaningful changes.

As the trial proceeds in federal court, state attorneys general are pursuing both financial damages—potentially reaching billions of dollars—and structural injunctions. The office of California’s attorney general stated via written release that the primary legal remedy is an injunction to force operational changes on Meta’s product offerings.

*Disclaimer: The technical analyses and security protocols detailed in this article are for informational purposes only. Always consult with certified IT and cybersecurity professionals before altering enterprise networks or handling sensitive data.*