Even as Meta Platforms faced sweeping lawsuits from state attorneys general accusing the company of harming children, Instagram's top executive urged employees to keep one priority above all else: recruiting more teenagers.

In a Nov. 6, 2023, internal memo, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri told staff to stay "laser focused" on teens, particularly in developed markets, placing that goal above work on Threads, Meta's text-based app launched earlier that year. 

The memo is among internal documents reviewed by The Washington Post and published Friday that describe Instagram's teen growth push as the platform's top objective through 2023 and into 2024.

The documents outline a multiyear effort to reverse slippage among teen users, especially in North America and Europe, where engagement had been declining. 

By late 2023, the company set targets to halt the decline by the end of 2024 and make Instagram the world's largest platform for teens by 2027, according to the report.

Internally, the strategy leaned on product changes and marketing aimed at making Instagram feel more social and more relevant to teens. 

The documents describe algorithm adjustments meant to help teens find and follow friends, heightened promotion of teen-friendly influencers and paid campaigns targeted at young users.

The materials also describe efforts inside Meta's offices meant to immerse employees in teen culture, including exhibits featuring popular teen hangouts and tips on taking trending selfies, the report said.

The push, according to the Post's account, unfolded alongside escalating legal and political scrutiny over social media's impact on young people. 

In October 2023, attorneys general from dozens of states filed lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging Meta knowingly built addictive features into Instagram and Facebook and misled the public about the risks to children and teens.

A federal judge in California later allowed parts of the states' case to proceed while narrowing some claims, according to court rulings in the sprawling social media addiction litigation that also includes suits targeting other platforms.

Meta has said its efforts to grow usage among teens do not conflict with safety work. In 2024, the company began rolling out "Teen Accounts," a setting designed to put younger users into stricter default protections, including limits on who can contact them and what content is recommended. 

In 2025, Meta expanded those protections, including restrictions requiring parental permission for users under 16 to livestream on Instagram in certain markets, and said the teen account program had been broadened globally.

Meta has also highlighted enforcement and product changes meant to curb harmful interactions, including tools to make it easier for teens to block and report accounts, and efforts to detect underage users who misrepresent their age.

Critics, including some child safety advocates and attorneys general, argue the core business incentives still favor maximizing time spent on the app, and they question whether safeguards meaningfully offset the risks to adolescent mental health and well-being.

The Post report said internal materials described teen loyalty as central to Instagram's long-term position, even as the platform fights perceptions that it has lost cultural ground to rivals and faces years of litigation over how its products affect young users.