The CEO of Meta testified in front of a Los Angeles Superior court, defending his platforms and denying that they were made to hook teenagers.
By Catholics for Catholics
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, one of the most powerful men in social media, testified in front of a Los Angeles Superior court, defending his platforms and denying that they were made to hook teenagers.
Still, the case which promises to be a landmark event will test Zuckerberg’s company, Meta, which owns among others Instagram and Facebook, engineered his social media platforms to be addictive to children despite knowing the potential harms.
According to a story by The Epoch Times, plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier went right to the point and set the moral tone, opening his remarks on Feb.18 with the implication that there are different ways to deal with vulnerable people—help them, ignore them, or “prey upon them.”
The crux of the case centers around a 20-year-old California woman identified in court documents by the initials “K.G.M.” or “Kelsey G.M,” who is accusing social media and tech mammoths of engineering products that rewire young people’s brains and ensnare them in a cycle of addiction and mental illness.
The complaint contends that the plaintiff became addicted to Instagram as a child and suffered ensuing harms, including depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia.
Akin to Big Tobacco and national opioid settlements before them, these cases mark a generational turning point and could have deep long-term effects on how the industry functions.
🚨 JUST IN: Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg just showed up at a Los Angeles courtroom for the BIG social media addiction trial!
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 18, 2026
Kids hooked on Instagram & Facebook, parents suing Meta for billions. pic.twitter.com/MCNbYfQfy5
During the trial, Zuckerberg stuck to stock responses, mostly restating that his “north star” was to create a product that provides value to users and that the amount of time they choose to spend on a given app is a side effect.
“I think if people use something in the near-term but aren’t happy with what they’re doing … or using it more than they want to, I don’t think it’s good for us in the long term,” Zuckerberg said.
In one email exchange, employees said Zuckerberg had “decided our top priority for the company in 2017 is teens.”
In a chat, employees wrote, “Oh good, we’re going after under-13-year-olds now?” Others responded, “Yeah, Zuck has been talking about it for awhile,” and “It was gross the last time he mentioned it.”
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