Overview
- On the stand, Mark Zuckerberg rejected claims that Meta deliberately designs its apps to maximize addictiveness, even as plaintiffs presented 2014–2015 emails discussing growing time spent on the platforms.
- Zuckerberg told jurors Meta was slow to identify Instagram users under 13, saying the company “could have done that earlier,” while disputing that his prior public testimony was misleading.
- The plaintiff, identified as K.G.M., alleges Instagram and YouTube use beginning in early childhood led to depression, anxiety, low self‑esteem and suicidal thoughts, citing features such as infinite scroll, autoplay and cosmetic filters.
- Snapchat and TikTok settled before trial; Meta and Google’s YouTube remain as defendants in Los Angeles Superior Court, where proceedings are in their second week and expected to last at least six weeks.
- The case is viewed as a test of whether platform design can trigger product liability for youth harms, with roughly 1,500 related suits pending nationwide and parallel actions proceeding in New Mexico and in federal court in Oakland.