Zuckerberg defends Meta at unprecedented social media trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives for a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children. Picture: Ryan Sun/AP

Mark Zuckerberg and opposing lawyers duelled in a Los Angeles courtroom yesterday, where the Meta chief executive answered questions about young people's use of Instagram, his congressional testimony, and internal advice he has received about being "authentic" and not "robotic".

Mr Zuckerberg's testimony is part of an unprecedented social media trial that questions whether Meta's platforms deliberately addict and harm children.

Lawyers representing the plaintiff, a now 20-year-old woman identified as KGM, claim her early use of social media made her addicted to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts.

Meta Platforms and Google's YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

Beginning his questioning, the plaintiff's lawyer, Mark Lanier, laid out three options of what people can do regarding vulnerable people: Help them, ignore them, or "prey upon them and use them for our own ends".

Mr Zuckerberg said he agrees the last option is not what a reasonable company should do, saying: "I think a reasonable company should try to help the people that use its services."

When he was asked about his compensation, Mr Zuckerberg said he has pledged to give "almost all" of his money to charity, focusing on scientific research.

Mr Lanier asked him how much money he has pledged to victims impacted by social media, to which Mr Zuckerberg replied: "I disagree with the characterisation of your question."

Media training

Mr Lanier also asked Mr Zuckerberg about what he characterised as extensive media training, including for testimonies like the one he was giving in court.

The lawyer pointed to an internal document about feedback on Mr Zuckerberg's tone of voice on his own social media, imploring him to come off as "authentic, direct, human, insightful, and real", and instructing him to "not try hard, fake, robotic, corporate, or cheesy" in his communication.

Mr Zuckerberg pushed back against the idea that he has been coached on how to respond to questions or present himself, saying those offering the advice were "just giving feedback".

Regarding his media appearances and public speaking, Mr Zuckerberg said: "I think I'm actually well known to be sort of bad at this."

The Meta chief executive has long been mocked online for appearing robotic and, when he was younger, nervous when speaking publicly.

Age verification

Mr Lanier then spent a considerable stretch of his limited time with Mr Zuckerberg asking about the company's age verification policies.

"I don't see why this is so complicated," Mr Zuckerberg said after a lengthy back-and-forth, reiterating that the company's policy restricts users under the age of 13 and that they work to detect users who have lied about their ages to bypass restrictions.

The Meta chief mostly stuck to his talking points, referencing his goal of building a platform that is valuable to users and, on multiple occasions, saying he disagreed with Mr Lanier's "characterisation" of his questions or of Mr Zuckerberg's own comments.

Mr Zuckerberg has testified in other trials and answered questions from Congress about youth safety on Meta's platforms, and he apologised to families at that hearing whose lives had been upended by tragedies they believed were because of social media.

This trial, though, marks the first time Mr Zuckerberg will answer similar questions in front of a jury and, again, bereaved parents are expected to be in the limited courtroom seats available to the public.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

'Supporting young people'

A Meta spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit and said they are "confident the evidence will show our long-standing commitment to supporting young people".

One of Meta's lawyers, Paul Schmidt, said in his opening statement that the company is not disputing that KGM experienced mental health struggles, but rather disputing that Instagram played a substantial role in those struggles.

He pointed to medical records that showed a turbulent home life, and both he and an attorney representing YouTube argue she turned to their platforms as a coping mechanism or a means of escaping her mental health struggles.

Mr Zuckerberg's testimony comes a week after that of Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta's Instagram, who said in the courtroom that he disagrees with the idea that people can be clinically addicted to social media platforms.

Mr Mosseri maintained that Instagram works hard to protect young people using the service, and said it's "not good for the company, over the long run, to make decisions that profit for us but are poor for people's well-being".

Much of Mr Mosseri's questioning from Mr Lanier centred on cosmetic filters on Instagram that changed people's appearance — a topic that Mr Lanier is sure to revisit with Mr Zuckerberg.

He is also expected to face questions about Instagram's algorithm, the infinite nature of Meta's feeds, and other features the plaintiffs argue are designed to get users hooked.

Meta is also facing a separate trial in New Mexico that began last week.