He was grilled by lawyers of a young woman who claims was addicted to Instagram, allegedly worsening her depression and suicidal thoughts.
By Catholics for Catholics
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, one of the largest social media companies in the world, sparred with rival lawyers in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, when the media mogul was grilled about young people’s use of Instagram.
One of the key questions regarding Zuckerberg’s testimony is whether Meta’s platforms, owned by him, deliberately addict and harm children, according to a story by Newsmax.
It is currently part of an unprecedented social media trial.
The attorneys representing the plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, claim her use of social media as a young woman got her hooked on the technology and worsened depression and suicidal thoughts.
According to Newsmax, Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two enduring defendants in the case. Snap and TikTok have settled.
Mark Lanier, KGM’s attorney, started his questioning by presenting three choices of what people can do regarding vulnerable people: help them, ignore them, or “prey upon them and use them for our own ends.”
Zuckerberg responded by saying he concedes that the last option is not what a reasonable company should do, replying, “I think a reasonable company should try to help the people that use its services.”
Lainier grilled Zuckerberg on prior internecine goals geared toward increasing the amount of time users spent on Meta’s platforms. The CEO replied that the company no longer relies on those metrics, contending they are not the best gauge of success.
Zuckerberg stressed that company policy forbids children under 13 from using its platforms and said accounts belonging to underage users are removed when identified.
The Zuckerberg case, along with two others, has been chosen as a bellwether trial, meaning its conclusion could affect how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
