Zuckerberg To Testify In Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta Platforms, is expected to testify Wednesday in a historic social media addiction trial in California, where a plaintiff alleges that Instagram and other platforms were deliberately designed to addict young users.

Zuckerberg, 41, heads Meta, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, and is considered the most anticipated witness in the case. The trial is the first in a series of lawsuits filed by American families against major social media companies and could establish legal precedent for thousands of pending claims.

The proceedings mark the first time the tech billionaire will address the safety of his global platforms directly before a jury.

Meta’s reputation has loomed over the case since jury selection, when defence lawyers sought to exclude California residents deemed hostile toward the Facebook founder. The 12 jurors in Los Angeles will hear testimony until late March to determine whether Meta’s Instagram and YouTube — owned by Google — bear responsibility for the plaintiff’s mental health problems after years of heavy social media use.

The plaintiff began using YouTube at age six, Instagram at 11 and later joined TikTok and Snapchat.

The court will examine whether the companies intentionally engineered algorithms and personalisation features to encourage compulsive use among minors, allegedly contributing to depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicide among young people.

TikTok and Snapchat settled confidentially with the plaintiff before trial.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, the first Silicon Valley executive to testify on February 11, rejected the idea of social media addiction, describing it instead as “problematic use”.

“I’m sure I’ve said that I was addicted to a Netflix show when I binged it really late one night, but I don’t think that’s the same thing as clinical addiction,” Mosseri told jurors.

In the courtroom gallery, mothers whose teenage children died by suicide struggled to contain their emotions after camping overnight outside the courthouse to secure seats.

The plaintiff’s lawyers also called psychiatrist Anna Lembke, who testified that social media could act as a “gateway drug” by rewiring developing brains toward addictive behaviour.

During testimony, Mosseri defended Zuckerberg’s 2020 decision to allow cosmetic surgery filters on Instagram despite objections from executives who warned of harmful effects on young girls. Some staff argued the filters were necessary to maintain market share amid competition from TikTok.

A similar nationwide case is also ongoing before a federal judge in Oakland, while Meta faces another trial in New Mexico where prosecutors accuse the company of prioritising profit over protecting minors from sexual predators.

Legal observers say the outcome of the California trial could reshape global regulation of social media platforms and youth online safety standards.