Mark Zuckerberg appears in court over youth addiction claims: Here’s what he said in testimony

Mark Zuckerberg

• Mark Zuckerberg testified in court on social media's youth impact
• Meta denies knowingly targeting children under 13 for engagement
• Lawsuit may impact tech firms' legal protections and regulations

Did our AI summary help?

Mark Zuckerberg appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom this week as part of a landmark trial examining whether social media platforms harmed young users by encouraging addictive behavior.

According to Reuter's report, the case centres on claims that platforms owned by Meta Platforms, along with rivals, knowingly drew children and teenagers into prolonged use despite internal awareness of potential mental health risks. Zuckerberg denied that Meta allows children under 13 on its platforms and said the company has worked to improve safety features over time.

Claims about children and platform policies

During questioning, lawyers presented internal Meta documents suggesting young users were viewed as a key growth demographic. One presentation from 2018 reportedly stated that attracting “tweens” was important to long-term engagement.

Zuckerberg responded that such discussions reflected exploration of safer products for younger audiences, not an intention to ignore age restrictions. He said Meta had considered a child-friendly version of Instagram but ultimately decided not to launch it.

He also argued that verifying user age is technically difficult and should involve device makers and app stores, rather than being the sole responsibility of social media companies.

Focus on screen time and engagement goals

Zuckerberg faced further scrutiny over past statements to U.S. lawmakers in which he said Meta did not instruct teams to maximise time spent on Instagram.

Lawyers produced older emails where Zuckerberg discussed increasing user engagement by significant margins. He acknowledged that Meta previously tracked time spent as a performance metric but said the company has since shifted toward prioritising user experience and wellbeing.

Documents shown to jurors reportedly included projections aiming to gradually raise daily usage minutes over several years, which Zuckerberg described as internal benchmarks rather than direct targets.

Broader legal and industry impact

The lawsuit is part of a wider wave of U.S. litigation against social media firms including Google’s YouTube, Snap and TikTok. Many of the cases argue that platform design choices — not just user content — contributed to youth mental health problems.

A verdict against the companies could weaken long-standing legal protections that have shielded tech firms from liability. Regulators worldwide are also tightening rules, with several countries exploring stricter age limits for social media use.

Zuckerberg’s testimony marked his first detailed courtroom defence of Instagram’s impact on young users, a moment seen as a turning point in how courts assess the responsibility of major technology platforms in shaping online behaviour.