Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies for first time in landmark social media addiction trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared at the California courthouse on Wednesday, February 18, to testify in a landmark social media addiction case.

The case is to determine on legal grounds whether social media platforms are responsible for deteriorating children’s mental health.

The trial marks the first time that Zuckerberg addresses youth safety claims before a jury after years of heated congressional hearings.

Security guards surrounded him as he entered the court in a dark suit.

The case centers on a plaintiff identified as her initials K.G.M., who started using Instagram and YouTube as a child.

The lawsuit claimed that the social media companies are deliberately designing addictive platforms to engage young minds for hours, despite knowing the risks associated with them.

Earlier, the Instagram CEO also appeared in court, claiming that Instagram is problematic but not clinically addictive.

Founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, Matt Bergman, said: “This is more than a legal milestone, it is a moment that families across this country have been waiting for.”

“For the first time, a meta CEO will have to sit before a jury, under oath, and explain why the company released a product its own safety team warned was addictive and harmful to children,” he added.

YouTube remains a defendant, though its CEO Neal Mohal will no longer testify.