Instagram chief Adam Mosseri just dropped a semantic bombshell in a Los Angeles courtroom, admitting that problematic social media usage is real but insisting it doesn’t qualify as clinical addiction. Testifying Wednesday, Mosseri drew a line in the sand: sure, teens doom-scrolling into the wee hours might be hooked in a colloquial sense, but it’s not the diagnosable dependency that anti-tech crusaders like to hype. This comes amid lawsuits from parents claiming platforms like Instagram are frying kids’ brains, fueling mental health crises, and turning attention spans into goldfish-level. Mosseri’s dodge? Rephrase the problem away—problematic, yes; addictive, no. It’s a masterclass in corporate linguistics, much like how gun-grabbers rebrand mass shootings to exclude inconvenient stats or call rifles assault weapons to scare soccer moms.
For the 2A community, this testimony is a flashing neon warning sign about the slippery slope of public health narratives. Just as Mosseri admits harm exists but rejects the addiction label to evade liability, gun controllers love labeling firearms public health epidemics while denying any clinical parallel to responsible ownership—like how they ignore the millions of defensive gun uses annually (per CDC estimates hovering around 500,000 to 3 million). Implications? If Big Tech can normalize problematic behaviors without owning the addiction tag, expect the same playbook against guns: problematic ownership for law-abiding folks, leading to age-gating AR-15s or safety features that neuter functionality. It’s all about control—curtailing speech today, Second Amendment rights tomorrow—under the guise of protecting the vulnerable.
The irony burns brightest when you consider Instagram’s own algorithms, engineered to maximize engagement like a slot machine on steroids, mirroring how media outlets algorithmically amplify school shooting hysteria to demonize firearms. Mosseri’s courtroom tap-dance underscores a key 2A truth: semantic games precede policy grabs. Stay vigilant, curate your feeds wisely, and remember—whether it’s pixels or projectiles, the fight’s about framing the narrative before they frame you.
