Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday in a landmark trial over claims his platforms harm children, a case that could cost the company billions and redefine social media accountability.
The unprecedented trial, unfolding in Los Angeles Superior Court, is widely seen as a bellwether for hundreds of similar lawsuits pending nationwide. Cameras were barred from the courtroom, and Judge Carolyn Kuhl warned that anyone using AI-enabled smart glasses during the tech titan’s testimony would be held in contempt.
The lawsuit, K.G.M. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., et al., was filed by a 20-year-old California woman identified by her initials. She alleges that Meta and other tech companies deliberately engineered their platforms to hook young users, contributing to her depression and suicidal thoughts, and seeks to hold them accountable.
META CEO TO TESTIFY IN HIGH-STAKES TRIAL THAT COULD COST BIG TECH BILLIONS
During questioning, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, confronted Zuckerberg with an internal PowerPoint presentation titled “Creating the Future,” directing jurors to a slide describing efforts to target younger generations eager to actively participate in the world around them.
Zuckerberg agreed Lanier had summarized the material accurately but testified that the slide reflected outside research that was not shared with him.
Lanier then shifted to Instagram’s enforcement efforts, asking whether Meta removed all 4 million under-13 users the company had identified on the platform in 2018. Zuckerberg responded that while the company did not remove all of them, it had implemented tools to detect and address underage accounts and was working to improve those systems.
The testimony aligns with the companies’ broader defense.
Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube have previously denied claims that they engineered addictive features in their products that harm young users, citing expanded safety tools and parental controls.
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Meanwhile, a verdict for the plaintiff could set a precedent for holding tech companies responsible for harmful design decisions, despite years of successfully invoking Section 230’s content liability shield — a federal law that largely shields online platforms from lawsuits related to user-posted content.
A rejection of that defense could pave the way for similar lawsuits nationwide, exposing Meta and other tech companies to billions in potential damages and pressuring them to redesign their platforms.
Zuckerberg’s testimony came a week after Instagram head Adam Mosseri rejected the idea that social media is clinically addictive. He defended the platform’s efforts to safeguard young users, saying it would hurt the business in the long run to prioritize profits over people’s well-being.
This is a developing story; check back later for updates.
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