Zuckerberg Trial: Social Media Addiction Case

“We do not target teenagers,” explains the court.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram‘s parent company Meta, appeared at a trial held in a Los Angeles court on the 18th and denied allegations that the company targeted youth. When presented with internal documents, he claimed that the defense was distorting the contents of internal communications.

This trial is a symbolic lawsuit contesting whether Instagram causes addiction to children, and Google’s YouTube also participated as a defendant. TikTok and Snapchat reached a settlement just before the trial began, and the terms of the settlement were not made public.

This lawsuit is attracting attention because it could affect the direction of thousands of similar lawsuits. The plaintiffs argued that Meta and other social media companies operated in an addictive manner, harming many children. In a separate case, attorneys general from 29 states also asked a California federal court to order immediate action, including deleting accounts of users under the age of 13.

Australia banned social media accounts for people under 16 last year, and the UK, Denmark, France and Spain are also considering similar measures.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in a trial related to Instagram’s youth addiction controversy. Associated Press

Meta has stated that it has banned use under the age of 13 and has implemented youth protection measures. But Mark Lanier, an attorney for the plaintiffs, presented internal emails, messages and research showing Zuckerberg and other executives discussing the use of Instagram and Facebook by teenagers and younger users.

An email sent to CEO Zuckerberg and others by Nick Clegg, who worked as Meta’s head of global foreign policy in 2019, contained content to the effect that ‘it is difficult for the company to claim that it is doing its best because the age limit is not properly enforced.’

Additionally, a study conducted on behalf of Instagram by an external organization in 2019 found that young users seemed to be addicted to using Instagram and recommended that they reduce their use of the platform.

CEO Zuckerberg noted that the study was not conducted internally at Meta. Paul Schmidt, Mehta’s attorney, said the same report also cited positive aspects of Instagram use and said it was part of ongoing research to improve the platform.

A 2018 presentation also discussed the company’s success in retaining its unaccepted “tweens” users.

Zuckerberg has discussed various versions of the product that could be used in a regulated way by children under 13, and has said that he uses the Messenger Kids service with his children, although it is not very popular. He added that it was not surprising that the research was conducted internally.

Zuckerberg said he always regretted not being able to identify users under 13 sooner, but he believes the company has reached the right point over time.

A large-scale lawsuit is being filed on the grounds that various social media, including Instagram and YouTube, operate in an addictive manner and have caused harm to many children. Associated Press

Lanier’s attorneys presented an email from CEO Zuckerberg to executives in 2015 in which he set a goal of increasing platform usage by 12 percent and reversing the decline in youth use, as well as an internal message from 2017 that said youth were the company’s top priority. CEO Zuckerberg countered that while the company has targeted increased usage time in the past, it does not currently operate in that manner.

He said the company had been working for years to address problematic usage and argued that the company would not have lasted long if it had simply focused on dwell time metrics. The daily usage limit setting, time notification, and nighttime notification blocking functions introduced in 2018 were also mentioned. However, according to internal documents, only 1.1% of youth set daily usage limits.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, insisted last week that 16 hours a day of use does not necessarily mean addiction. CEO Zuckerberg testified that if there is a valuable service, use tends to increase, and when Lanier’s attorney pointed out that addiction also leads to increased use, he responded that the claim may be true, but he did not know whether it applied to this case.

The trial is expected to last several weeks and will include testimony from former Meta employees who have criticized the company’s practices. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan was scheduled to appear as a witness, but according to a report by the BBC, he will no longer appear on the stand.

www.koreatimes.net/Hot News

Reporter Park Hae-ryun (press3@koreatimes.net)