Zuckerberg and Instagram Chief Testify in Landmark Social Media Lawsuit Trial
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Both Mark Zuckerberg and the head of Instagram have pushed back on claims that their platforms are addictive in a landmark social media trial currently underway in California.
The trial, which is the first of thousands of pending social media lawsuits to go before a jury, involves claims that popular brands like Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to create addictive habits in children and younger users.
But, in testimony in recent days, both executives emphasized safety measures that their platforms have taken and the belief that “problematic use” is not the same as addiction.
“If you do something that’s not good for people, maybe they’ll spend more time [on Instagram] short term, but if they’re not happy with it, they’re not going to use it over time,” Meta CEO Zuckerberg said during his testimony, according to NBC News. “I’m not trying to maximize the amount of time people spend every month.”
Lawyers representing the plaintiff, however, referenced documents indicating that Instagram may have set engagement benchmarks, such as a target to increase the average daily engagement time of an Instagram user to 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 minutes in 2026.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, refuted claims that social media use could even be considered an addictive behavior.
“I think it’s important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use,” Mosseri said, according to the Guardian.
Thousands of Social Media Lawsuits Await Trial Outcome
The landmark social media trial is the first among thousands of lawsuits to reach a jury over addiction claims and whether or not social media is harmful.
“[Social media companies] have relentlessly pursued a strategy of growth-at-all-costs, recklessly ignoring the impact of their products on children’s mental and physical health and well-being,” the master complaint for these lawsuits states.
There are currently more than 2,000 of these cases filed in federal court, with many others active in state court as well. The outcome of this trial will be significant, as it could impact other cases.
If Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, were to lose the trial, then pressure could mount to settle the other cases. More early trials are expected to get underway this year.
TikTok and Snapchat were also originally part of the landmark trial, but agreed to confidential settlements with the plaintiff before it began. Those platforms are still listed in many other pending lawsuits.
The trial is expected to last several more weeks.
