Social media addiction trial: Mark Zuckerberg says increasing engagement on Instagram is not a company goal and that Meta removes underage users it identifies
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back against the notion that the social media company made increasing time spent on Instagram a company goal.
CNBC
Context & Ripple Effects
The testimony extends Meta’s defense in the social media addiction trial after Instagram chief Adam Mosseri argued that social media is not “clinically addictive” and that youth-facing features were tested carefully in earlier trial testimony.
It also sits against a longer-running evidentiary dispute: court filings describing internal warnings about young-user risks have put Meta’s product and safety decisions at the center of the case.
First-order effects
- Meta’s chief executive has placed two factual defenses directly into the trial record: engagement was not an Instagram company goal, and identified underage users are removed.
- The dispute shifts immediate attention to how Meta defines engagement objectives, identifies underage accounts, and documents enforcement of its stated policies.
Second-order effects
- Plaintiffs can test Zuckerberg’s account against prior executive testimony and the internal materials already surfaced in related coverage, increasing the importance of product-governance records.
- Other social platforms facing youth-safety scrutiny have added incentive to ensure their engagement metrics and age-enforcement claims are supported by auditable internal practices.
Third-order effects
- If these cases continue to focus on the gap between stated safety commitments and internal decision-making, youth protection may become a more consequential governance and litigation issue for social platforms.
- The broader pressure is toward greater scrutiny of whether recommendation and engagement systems can be separated, in practice, from platforms’ responsibilities to younger users.
The trend: Social-media litigation is increasingly testing platform safety claims against the incentives and operational evidence behind engagement-driven products.
Related: Meta · Instagram · Mosseri’s social media addiction trial testimony · Court filings on Meta’s young-user safeguards
Related Coverage
- Zuckerberg grilled in landmark social media trial over teen mental health The Guardian · Sanya Mansoor
- Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial New York Times · Eli Tan
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to face jury in landmark social media addiction trial NPR · Bobby Allyn
- Zuckerberg Testifies in LA Courtroom The Information · Cory Weinberg
- Meta Boss Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand in Social Media Addiction Trial Breitbart · Lucas Nolan
- Zuckerberg Defends Social Media as ‘Valuable For People’ During Trial Over Alleged Harm to Minors International Business Times · Matias Civita
- Zuckerberg testifies in landmark social media addiction trial Axios · Maria Curi
- What Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in court The National · Cody Combs
- Zuckerberg tells jury he regrets slow progress on spotting under-13s on Instagram: ‘Wish we could have gotten there sooner’ Le Monde
- Mark Zuckerberg testifies in L.A. trial over claims social media makes kids addicted Los Angeles Times · Sonja Sharp
- Mark Zuckerberg Grilled on Usage Goals, Underage Users at California Trial Wall Street Journal · Meghan Bobrowsky
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the Stand on Social Media Addiction: ‘If Something Is Valuable, People Will Do It More’ LAW.com · Amanda Bronstad
- Kara Swisher says Mark Zuckerberg ‘pushing down his responsibility’ amid landmark social media addiction trial CNN · Blake McGill
- Mark Zuckerberg questioned on Meta's under-13 users and usage goals in landmark social media trial CBS News · Mary Cunningham
- Zuckerberg grilled in landmark social media case - ABC News ABC
- ‘Time to face the music’: Grieving mother says Zuckerberg must be held accountable | Fox News Video Fox News
- Mark Zuckerberg grilled by lawyers about app screen time in landmark social media addiction trial at LA court New York Post
- Judge During Zuckerberg Testimony: Don't Record Using Meta Glasses In Court Forbes · Antonio Pequeño IV
- Meta's Zuckerberg to be questioned on user harm at addiction trial The American Bazaar · Nileena Sunil
- Mom of son who died by suicide after Facebook ‘sextortion’ scheme slams Mark Zuckerberg as ‘soulless psychopath’ outside LA court New York Post
- Mark Zuckerberg Defends Instagram Age Checks at Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial The Wrap
- Zuckerberg grilled on witness stand at landmark social media trial Australian Financial Review
- Zuckerberg grilled over Meta's youth strategy at social media addiction trial Sydney Morning Herald
- Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand Today in Los Angeles Social Media Addiction Trial Overturned · Kelly Stonelake
- Zuckerberg defends Instagram in landmark tech addiction trial Honolulu Star-Advertiser · Eli Tan
- BREAKING: Zuckerberg Caught in Contradictions as Child Safety Trial Exposes Internal Cover-Ups Tech Oversight Project
- Zuckerberg defends Meta in landmark social media addiction trial BBC · Kali Hays
- Meta Trial: Zuckerberg Admits Instagram's Age Checks Are Failing Android Headlines · Jean Leon
- Zuckerberg faces courtroom scrutiny over social media addiction claims Deseret News · Lois M. Collins
- Mark Zuckerberg to testify during landmark trial on social media addiction NBC News
- Zuckerberg appears before jury in landmark US trial as social media giants accused of ‘engineering addiction’ in kids The Sun · Harvey Geh
- Social media trial latest: Mark Zuckerberg to appear before jury for first time Sky News
- Mark Zuckerberg testifies in landmark social media addiction trial FOX 13 Seattle · Daniel Miller
- Zuckerberg to testify in youth social media addiction trial RTÉ
- Meta and Google are on trial over social media addiction. Here's what to know as Zuckerberg testifies. Center for Countering Digital Hate
- Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify in a landmark social media addiction trial Quartz · Shannon Carroll
- Meta's Mark Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media addiction trial NewsNation · Brooke Shafer
- Zuckerberg testifies in landmark social media addiction case MS NOW · Erum Salam
- Zuckerberg to Defend Meta's Youth Strategy at Addiction Trial Bloomberg Law
- Mark Zuckerberg to testify in watershed trial about impact of social media on children The Independent
- Meta's Zuckerberg set to testify in social media trial Economic news · Nijat Babayev
- Mark Zuckerberg will face grieving families again as social media addiction trial opens in Los Angeles Moneycontrol · Sarthak Singh
- Mark Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media addiction trial The Economic Times
- Mid-day update from Zuckerberg Testimony in social media addiction trial...w/ Sarah Gardner: — Questioned by Mark Lanier … Nicki Petrossi
- Today, Mark takes the stand in the Los Angeles Social Media Addiction Trials. According to my conversation with Nicki Petrossi who was in the court room … Kelly Stonelake
- Zuckerberg's courthouse entourage showed up in Meta Ray-Bans. Business Insider
- Meta CEO testifies in landmark social media addiction trial Semafor · J.D. Capelouto
- Mark Zuckerberg Testifies at Landmark Trial on Teen Social-Media Addiction Rolling Stone · Nancy Dillon
- Mark Zuckerberg appears to be ‘served’ new lawsuit upon arrival at court | AJ #shorts YouTube · Al Jazeera English
- Calif: Zuckerberg arrives at L.A. court to testify in landmark social media addiction trial One America News Network · Katherine Mosack
- Zuckerberg Takes the Stand in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial Digital CxO · Jon Swartz
- Zuckerberg: Meta no longer designs apps to maximize screentime GMA News Online · Jody Godoy
- Mark Zuckerberg Says Instagram Is Valuable, Not Harmful, in Landmark Tech Addiction Trial The Olympian · Eli Tan
- Despite what he says at the trial, Zuckerberg knows Meta's social media platforms are addictive, especially to children. And on purpose. @jonathanhaidt · Jonathan Haidt
- Boxes with Mark Zuckerberg's name arrived at the LA Superior Court this morning. Does anyone want to tell me what “Zuckerberg football” means? @pranavdixit · Pranav Dixit
Discussion
-
r/technology
r
on reddit
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to face jury in landmark social media addiction trial
-
r/politics
r
on reddit
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to face jury in landmark social media addiction trial
-
r/LegalNews
r
on reddit
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to face jury in landmark social media addiction trial
-
r/NPR
r
on reddit
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to face jury in landmark social media addiction trial
-
@tech_oversight
@tech_oversight
on x
NEW: Illustrations from inside the courtroom show Mark Zuckerberg being sworn in and confronted with evidence as the Meta CEO testified this morning in the ongoing landmark social media trials in Los Angeles. #BigTechAddictsKids [image]
-
@theresistanceco
@theresistanceco
on bluesky
Nice to see this judge has as much contempt for these bullshit meta glasses as I do! — You record me without my permission, I am punching those glasses off your face. I don't support your surveillance state or the invasion of my privacy! — www.cnbc.com/2026/02/18/m...
-
@davelee.me
Dave Lee
on bluesky
Having members of your entourage wear Meta RayBans into a court room is .. a choice www.cnbc.com/2026/02/18/m...