Accused of fostering addiction among minors, Zuckerberg defends himself in a trial that threatens the future of Meta

Testified for more than six hours before a civil jury in Los Angeles, Mark Zuckerberg found himself, for the first time, having to defend his company under oath in a trial focused on the impact of social media on the mental health of young people.

The head of Meta is accused, along with Google, of having designed his platforms to maximize screen time, including for minors.

A first trial… before others?

At the heart of the case are Instagram and YouTube, targeted by thousands of lawsuits in the United States. Indeed, a 20-year-old Californian plaintiff claims that her intensive use of social media since childhood contributed to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. This first trial should serve as a test case for a series of similar cases that could ultimately reshape the economic model of social media platforms. When questioned about the presence of children under 13 on Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company had been slow to implement stricter safeguards. The systematic collection of birthdates when creating an account was only generalized starting in 2019, before a gradual strengthening of verification mechanisms.

4 million users under 13

As reported by the New York Times, internal documents submitted to the court indicate that in 2015, approximately 4 million Instagram users were under 13.

Faced with these figures, the CEO admitted that he would have liked to accelerate the deployment of detection tools, but nevertheless denied any strategy aimed at deliberately targeting children. He notably mentioned projects, which never came to fruition, for a version of Instagram dedicated to children under 13. Regarding time spent, internal discussions from 2014 and 2015 show that the company had set objectives for increasing engagement. Mark Zuckerberg does not deny this, but claims to have since changed the approach. According to him, usage time is now a "side effect" of a satisfactory experience, and not an objective in itself. A business model under pressure: Behind the legal debates, it is the advertising model of social networks that is being scrutinized. The longer users stay on a platform, the more ads it can display. However, Meta generated $60 billion in revenue in a single quarter recently, according to figures presented during the trial.

The plaintiff's lawyer also highlighted the low usage of the regulatory tools offered to teenagers, with barely more than 1% activating the daily time limits. This raises questions about the actual effectiveness of the systems promoted by the company.

If the jury were to rule in favor of the Californian plaintiff, the consequences could extend beyond purely financial matters. In the long run, platforms could be forced to fundamentally adapt their design, at a time when the responsibility of digital giants is being subjected to increasingly close scrutiny, both in the United States and in Europe…