Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified Wednesday in the first jury trial to address whether social media platforms are intentionally designed to addict children – a high-stakes courtroom clash that could redefine the liability of tech giants.
The landmark case in Los Angeles, brought by a 20-year-old California woman identified as Kaley G.M., alleges Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube were responsible for a mental health crisis through addictive algorithms.
During a tense cross-examination, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, confronted Zuckerberg with internal emails from 2014 and 2015, in which Zuckerberg identified “time spent” as the company’s “most concerning” metric and set goals to increase user engagement by 12%.
Lanier noted that when these goals were set, his client was only nine years old and already using Instagram. Zuckerberg admitted that while the company prioritized engagement, it had since pivoted.
“At an earlier point in the company, I would give executives goals to increase time spent,” Zuckerberg testified, though he insisted the current focus is on “meaningful” connection.
Zuckerberg admitted that “we did used to have goals around time,” but that the company’s goal was always to “build useful services that help people connect to the people they care about and learn about the world.”
When Lanier argued that addicts also tend to increase their usage, Zuckerberg replied, “I think that may be true, but I don’t know if that applies here.”
The focus of the lawsuit is the platforms’ failure to keep children under 13 off their services. Zuckerberg expressed “regret” over the slow progress in identifying underage users, even as he was confronted with internal data suggesting that in 2015, Instagram had four million users under the age of 13.
The defense maintains that Kaley G.M.’s mental health struggles were tied to external life factors rather than app usage. Last week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri supported this stance, downplaying the concept of addiction by suggesting that even 16 hours of daily use does not inherently prove clinical dependency.
The proceedings are being watched by legal experts and tech firms worldwide. While TikTok and Snap settled their portions of the suit for undisclosed terms, Meta and Google are digging in.
The outcome could influence thousands of pending lawsuits filed by families, school districts, and state attorneys general. Beyond the U.S., the trial coincides with a global legislative crackdown; Australia recently implemented a social media ban for those under 16, with the UK and France considering similar restrictions.
The trial is expected to last through late March, featuring testimony from whistleblowers and former employees regarding the internal mechanics of social media algorithms.
While Zuckerberg has frequently faced Congressional hearings, this is the first time he has defended his company’s practices directly before a jury.
