LOS ANGELES: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back in court on Wednesday against a lawyer\u2019s suggestion that \u200bhe had misled Congress about the design of its social media platforms, as a landmark trial over youth social media addiction continues.<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg was questioned on his statements to Congress in 2024, at a hearing where he said the company did not give its teams the goal of maximizing time spent on its apps.<\/p>\n
Mark Lanier, a lawyer for a woman who accuses Meta of harming her mental health when she was a child, showed jurors emails from 2014 and 2015 in which Zuckerberg laid out aims to increase time spent on the app by double-digit percentage points. Zuckerberg said that while Meta previously had goals related to \u200cthe amount of \u200ctime users spent on the app, it has since changed its \u200bapproach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf \u200cyou \u2060are trying \u200bto \u2060say my testimony was not accurate, I strongly disagree with that,\u201d Zuckerberg said.<\/p>\n
The appearance was the billionaire Facebook founder\u2019s first time testifying in court on Instagram\u2019s effect on the mental health of young users.<\/p>\n
While Zuckerberg has previously testified on the subject before Congress, the stakes are higher at the jury trial in Los Angeles, California. Meta may have to pay damages if it loses the case, and the verdict could erode Big Tech\u2019s longstanding legal defense against claims of user harm.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit and others like it are part of a \u2060global backlash against social media platforms over children\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n
Australia has prohibited access \u200cto social media platforms for users under age 16, and \u200cother countries including Spain are considering similar curbs. In the US, \u200bFlorida has prohibited companies from allowing users under age \u200c14. Tech industry trade groups are challenging the law in court.<\/p>\n
The case involves a California woman \u200cwho started using Meta\u2019s Instagram and Google\u2019s YouTube as a child. She alleges the companies sought to profit by hooking kids on their services despite knowing social media could harm their mental health. She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to hold the companies liable.<\/p>\n
Meta and Google have denied the allegations, and \u200cpointed to their work to add features that keep users safe. Meta has often pointed to a National Academies of Sciences finding that research does not \u2060show social media changes \u2060kids\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit serves as a test case for similar claims in a larger group of cases against Meta, Alphabet\u2019s Google, Snap and TikTok. Families, school districts and states have filed thousands of lawsuits in the US accusing the companies of fueling a youth mental health crisis. Over the years, investigative reporting has unearthed internal Meta documents showing the company was aware of potential harm.<\/p>\n
Meta researchers found that teens who report that Instagram regularly made them feel bad about their bodies saw significantly more \u201ceating disorder adjacent content\u201d than those who did not, Reuters reported in October.<\/p>\n
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, testified last week that he was unaware of a recent Meta study showing no link between parental supervision and teens\u2019 attentiveness to their own social media use. Teens with difficult life circumstances more often said they used Instagram habitually \u200bor unintentionally, according to the document shown at \u200btrial.<\/p>\n
Meta\u2019s lawyer told jurors at the trial that the woman\u2019s health records show her issues stem from a troubled childhood, and that social media was a creative outlet for her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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