Meta Is Facing a Landmark Over Social Media Addiction In Young Users. A Former Executive Pointed At Zuckerberg.

A former Meta executive said company CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a culture that prioritized growth and engagement over child safety as a landmark trial against the company continues.

Arturo Bejar's remarks are part of a trial where the Facebook and Instagram parent company faces attorneys general of dozens of states, which accuse it of deliberately designing addictive features to keep young users engaged while misleading the public about potential mental health risks.

The trial is expected to last six weeks. Later, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether the company is liable and should face civil penalties and need to change features of its apps. "You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids," Bejar said during his testimony.

He worked at the company between 2009 and 2015 and was an independent contractor between 2019 and 2021 examining the well-being of teenagers on Instagram. In 2023 he had already told Congress that the company was aware of harms to teenagers and failed to address them.

According to the lawsuit, Meta "developed and refined a set of psychologically manipulative platform features designed to maximize young users' time spent on its social media platforms."

The states point to features including infinite scroll, autoplay, and likes as examples of mechanisms they say encourage prolonged and compulsive use. The attorneys general also allege Meta knew its platforms could contribute to anxiety, depression and suicide among some young users but presented its products as safe.

Another major component of the case involves the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. The states accuse Meta of knowingly allowing children under 13 to use its platforms and collecting their personal information without obtaining the parental consent required by federal law. Meta strongly denies the allegations and is also challenging the potential financial penalties sought in the case.

According to the company, the states' approach could expose it to damages of as much as $1.4 trillion, an amount approaching Meta's roughly $1.5 trillion market capitalization. "The State AGs may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are unsubstantiated, and their financial demands are vastly disproportionate," a Meta spokesperson said.

Meta argues that the states have failed to demonstrate that residents were actually deceived or harmed by the specific practices cited in the lawsuit. The company also says governments are attempting to punish it for broader industry problems, including the difficulty of reliably verifying children's ages online.

"We stand by our record of creating strong protections for teens, and look forward to making our case in court," the spokesperson said. The Oakland trial comes at an increasingly consequential moment for Meta and the wider social media industry. Earlier this month, a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address teen mental health in the state, along with $375 million in civil penalties.

In March, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in another social media addiction lawsuit involving a woman who began using the platforms at age 10. The lawsuit alleged that their product designs contributed to her developing a dangerous dependency, anxiety, depression, self-harm and body dysmorphia. The companies were ordered to pay $6 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri are expected to testify in the trial.