Mark Zuckerberg testified in a trial court on Feb. 19 in Los Angeles over a landmark case regarding allegations of Meta platforms being “addictive by design.” The case began after the plaintiff, only known as 20-year-old “Kaley,” accused the social media tycoon of creating the Meta owned platform, Instagram, to be addictive by design, causing her to suffer from anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia after joining the platform at the age of nine while still in elementary school.
While this is not the first time Zuckerberg has been on trial, facing a hearing at the U.S Senate in 2024, this case will serve as a “bellwether trial,” meaning the trial will serve as a precedent for future cases and lawsuits that deal with similar issues. Zuckerberg pushed back against these claims, arguing that Meta teams aren’t aiming to make a profit from users’ attention.
“I’m focused on building a community that is sustainable . . . I’m not trying to maximize the amount of time people spend,” Zuckerberg stated.
He also claimed that the scientific link between social media use and mental health has not been studied. Therefore, not a relevant or sustainable argument.
Zuckerberg’s attorney, Paul Schmidt, would further deny Kaley’s allegations by suggesting that her home life was the main cause of her mental distress.
“If you took Instagram away, and everything else was the same in Kaley’s life, would her life be completely different, or would she still be struggling with the same things she is today? She used it as a coping mechanism to deal with a chaotic upbringing,” Schmidt said.
Despite the defense’s claims, Kaley’s attorney Mark Lanier cross examined the claims with internal emails within Meta. Lanier revealed that several of these emails set goals on “winning big with teens.”
“If we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens,” Zuckerberg stated in the email. Lanier argued that Meta was well aware of underage users and was explicitly trying to exploit them. Countering a previous argument that the defense made. Regarding that, since Kaley joined the platform so young, she violated their terms of service; therefore are not liable for her condition.
Another email from 2018 documented the intention to “increase time spent on Instagram to 10%-12%.” Meta’s defense tried to counter it by claiming the emails were taken out of context, with Zuckerberg saying that they were “projections of progress,” not explicit objectives.
As the trial continues to unfold, the landmark decision from the court will set the standard for the legal future of social media.
