Los Angeles – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified Wednesday in a landmark civil trial examining claims that Instagram and other social media platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive and harmful to young users, according to reports from NBC News and the Los Angeles Times.
Zuckerberg’s testimony came in a case consolidated from over 1,600 plaintiffs, including more than 350 families and 250 school districts, alleging that Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap knowingly created addictive products that negatively impacted the mental health of children and teenagers. TikTok and Snap previously reached settlements with one of the initial plaintiffs, identified as K.G.M., before the trial began, NBC News reported.
The trial centers on the experiences of K.G.M., now 20, who alleges that her extensive use of social media from a young age led to addiction and mental health issues. Her lawyer, Mark Lanier, questioned Zuckerberg about Meta’s policies regarding users under the age of 13, noting that K.G.M. Began using Instagram at age nine, CBS News reported.
Zuckerberg stated that Instagram does not allow users under 13, but acknowledged the difficulty of enforcing this rule due to users falsifying their age. “You’ll see a meaningful number of people who lie about their age to use our services,” he said, according to CBS News.
Lanier also pressed Zuckerberg on whether increasing user engagement and time spent on Instagram was a company goal. Zuckerberg responded that while Meta tracks time spent on the app as a metric to compare with competitors like TikTok, it is not the primary objective. “It’s different than us trying to just increase time,” he stated, as reported by CBS News. “Just us trying to see how we’re stacking up in the industry.”
The Meta CEO also addressed Instagram’s beauty filters, which were temporarily suspended following concerns they promoted unrealistic beauty standards and potentially encouraged plastic surgery. Zuckerberg explained that the company ultimately decided to allow the filters to support free expression, but added, “we shouldn’t create them ourselves or recommend them,” according to CBS News.
During the proceedings, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl issued a warning regarding the use of facial recognition technology in the courtroom, specifically addressing anyone wearing Meta’s AI glasses. The judge ordered anyone using such devices to remove them and delete any recordings to prevent the identification of jurors, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Historically, social media platforms have benefited from Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which shields internet companies from liability for user-generated content. However, this case challenges that protection by alleging the platforms themselves designed addictive features, NBC News reported.
