Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Instagram-owner Meta Platforms, struggled in court on Wednesday to defend his company from claims it targeted young users as he was confronted with multiple internal documents.
He maintained that lawyers were “mischaracterising” the communications, which were presented as part of a landmark trial in Los Angeles over whether social media is addictive for children.
It was Zuckerberg’s first appearance before a jury, after years of rising backlash against Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Facebook.
The trial, in which Google’s YouTube is also a defendant, is being closely watched for its implications for thousands of similar lawsuits.
TikTok and Snapchat, which had also been named in the lawsuit, settled shortly before trial was scheduled to begin. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.
Meta has repeatedly maintained that the company has taken action to protect young users and bars people under the age of 13.
But in court, Mark Lanier, the lawyer for the lead plaintiff in the case – known by her initial K.G.M – presented an internal email raising concerns that the firm’s age limits were “unenforced”.
This makes it “difficult to claim we’re doing all we can”, according to the email from Nick Clegg, who worked as Meta’s head of global affairs for several years after the former Liberal Democrat MP served as the UK’s deputy prime minister.
Another presentation from 2018 showed the firm discussing the retention of “tweens” on the platform, despite the company in theory barring users under the age of 13.
Zuckerberg said he “always” regretted not making faster progress to identify users under 13, but he believed the company had reached the “right place over time”.
He accused Lanier of taking the tween document out of context, saying the company had had “various discussions” about building a version of its product that could be used by children under 13 “in a regulated way”.
He pointed to his company’s Messenger Kids service, which he said he uses “with my own kids” as an example. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have three children.
“You’re mischaracterising what I’m saying,” he added. “I’m not surprised that people internally were studying this.”
Lanier also confronted Zuckerberg about efforts to get teens to use the platform.
He presented emails from Zuckerberg as well as other internal messages, in which employees discussed in clear terms “teen usage” and how to increase it.
In one from 2015, Zuckerberg told a group of executives that his goals for the year included seeing “time spent increase by 12%” and the “teen trend be reversed.”
A separate 2017 email from an executive stated that “Mark has decided the top priority for the company is teens”.
Zuckerberg admitted that “at an earlier point in the company” he gave executives goals to increase time spent, but insisted that was no longer how the company operated.
K.G.M. or Kaley, who started using Instagram and YouTube as a child, attended the proceedings on Wednesday, sitting directly across from Zuckerberg, who arrived at court with an entourage of security and associates.
Bereaved parents were also among those in the courtroom to watch the proceedings.
The trial is expected to last several weeks. It is also set to include testimony from former Meta employees who have since spoken out about on the company’s practices.
YouTube boss Neal Mohan had also been expected to appear but is no longer being called for testimony, the BBC has learned.
In questioning last week, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, challenged the idea of social media addiction, arguing that even 16-hours of Instagram use in a single day did not show an addiction.
In his own testimony, Zuckerberg said that if something is of value, “people tend to use it more.”
Lanier noted that people who are addicted to something also tend to increase their use.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” Zuckerberg replied. “I think that may be true but I don’t know if that applies here.”
The case is one of thousands of similar lawsuits brought by families, state prosecutors and school districts currently winding their way through US courts.
The lawsuits accuse Meta and other social media platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat and Youtube, of functioning in an addictive manner that ultimately has harmed many children.
In one such case, 29 state attorney generals are pushing a California federal court to demand that the platforms make a number of changes immediately, before any trial, including forcing Meta to remove all accounts known to belong to users under 13 years of age.
A growing number of countries are moving to restrict social media use by young people. Australia late last year implemented a ban on social media accounts for people under age 16.
The UK, Denmark, France and Spain are considering similar measures.
By BBC News
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