Instagram’s chief Adam Mosseri is learning the hard way that scoffing at politicians who are coming after you is never a good idea. In May he made comments to The Information that were dismissive, if not patronizing, of the role of state attorneys general—and now those remarks have come back to bite him.
On Wednesday, a coalition of state attorneys general said it was investigating how Instagram lures young people and the “resulting harms” caused by the time they spend on it. According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision to investigate was influenced by the comments Mosseri made to The Information. In response to a letter the states wrote earlier this year, opposing Instagram’s plans for a children’s version, Mosseri had said that “there are things governments could do to help that are probably more helpful than writing a letter. I believe attorney generals’ responsibility is primarily to enforce law, not to write law.”