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Mark Zuckerberg took the stand in a Los Angeles courtroom, facing rigorous questioning from opposing lawyers. The Meta CEO was grilled on topics ranging from Instagram’s impact on young users to his past congressional testimonies, as well as the internal guidance he receives about maintaining authenticity and avoiding a “robotic” demeanor.
The courtroom drama is part of a groundbreaking trial scrutinizing whether Meta’s social media platforms intentionally engage children in a harmful and addictive manner.
By Wednesday afternoon, local time (Thursday AEDT), Zuckerberg had yet to provide a direct response to the lawsuit’s pivotal question: Is Instagram inherently addictive? The plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, pressed Zuckerberg on whether addictive products inherently drive more use.
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Zuckerberg replied, adding, “I don’t think that applies here.”
“I don’t think that applies here.”
Lawyers representing the plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, claim her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.
Beginning his questioning, Lanier laid out three options of what people can do regarding vulnerable people: help them, ignore them, or “prey upon them and use them for our own ends.”
Zuckerberg said he agrees the last option is not what a reasonable company should do, saying, “I think a reasonable company should try to help the people that use its services.”
When he was asked about his compensation, Zuckerberg said he has pledged to give “almost all” of his money to charity, focusing on scientific research. Lanier asked him how much money he has pledged to victims impacted by social media, to which Zuckerberg replied, “I disagree with the characterisation of your question.”
Lanier questioned the Meta chief executive extensively about a comment he made during a past congressional hearing, where he said Instagram employees are not given goals to increase amount of time people spent on the platform.
Lanier presented internal documents that seemed to contradict that statement.
Zuckerberg replied that they previously had goals associated with time, but said he and the company made the conscious decision to move away from those goals, focusing instead on utility. He said he believes in the “basic assumption” that “if something is valuable, people will use it more because it’s useful to them.”
Lanier also asked Zuckerberg about what he characterised as extensive media training, including for testimonies like the one he was giving in court.
Lanier pointed to an internal document about feedback on Zuckerberg’s tone of voice on his own social media, imploring him to come off as “authentic, direct, human, insightful and real,” and instructing him to “not try hard, fake, robotic, corporate or cheesy” in his communication.
Zuckerberg pushed back against the idea that he’s been coached on how to respond to questions or present himself, saying those offering the advice were “just giving feedback.”
Regarding his media appearances and public speaking, Zuckerberg said, “I think I’m actually well known to be sort of bad at this.”
The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellweather trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.
A Meta spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit and said they are “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
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