WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Nearly 1 in 5 users aged 13 to 15 told Meta that they saw “nudity or sexual images on Instagram” that they didn’t want to view, according to a court filing.
The document, made public on Friday as part of a federal lawsuit in California and reviewed by Reuters, includes portions of a March 2025 deposition of Instagram head Adam Mosseri.
In another document made public as part of the lawsuit, a Meta researcher recommends the company focus on teen users because they are "catalysts" for their households and influence how their younger siblings and parents use the app. The document is dated January 20, 2021.
"If we're looking to acquire (and retain) new users we need to recognize a teen's influence within the household to help do so," the researcher said in the memo.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is facing allegations from global leaders that the company's products harm young users. In the U.S., thousands of lawsuits in federal and state court accuse the company of designing addictive products and fueling a mental-health crisis for minors.
The statistic on explicit images came from a 2021 survey of Instagram users about their experiences on the platform, said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone, and not a review of posts themselves.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the researcher's memo.
About 8% of users in the 13 to 15 age group said in the 2021 survey they had “seen someone harm themselves or threaten to do so on Instagram,” according to Mosseri's deposition.
The company in late 2025 said for teen users, it would remove images and videos “containing nudity or explicit sexual activity, including when generated by AI,” with exceptions considered for medical and educational content.
"We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, and we’re always working to do better," Stone said.
Most sexually explicit images were sent via private messages between users, Mosseri said in his deposition, and Meta must consider users’ privacy when reviewing them.
“A lot of people don't want us reading their messages,” he said.
(Reporting by Courtney Rozen; Additional reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
