Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday in a high-profile jury trial over social media addiction. In an appearance which was described nbc news “Combatively”, the Facebook founder reportedly said that the goal of Meta was to make Instagram “useful”, not to increase the time users spend in the app.
On the stand, Zuckerberg was questioned about a company document that said improving engagement was one of “company goals” cnbc. But Zuckerberg claimed the company “has made a conscious decision to move away from those goals instead of focusing on usefulness.” The Associated Press. “If something is valuable, people will use it more because it is useful to them,” he said.
The lawsuit stems from a lawsuit brought by a California woman identified as “KGM” in court documents. Now the 20-year-old girl alleges that in her childhood she was harmed by the addictive features of Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. TikTok and Snap opted to settle before the case went to trial.
Zuckerberg was also asked about past public statements, including his comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast last year that he could not be removed by Meta’s board because he controls the majority of voting power. according to the new York Times, Zuckerberg accused the plaintiffs’ attorney of “misrepresenting” his past comments more than a dozen times.
Zuckerberg’s presence in court also apparently prompted the judge to warn people in the courtroom not to record the proceedings using AI glasses. As cnbc According to the notes, members of Zuckerberg’s entourage were seen wearing Meta’s smart glasses while escorting the CEO to the courthouse. It’s unclear whether anyone was actually using the glasses in court, but legal affairs journalist Meghan Cunniff reported that judges were particularly concerned about the possibility of recording or facial recognition of jurors. (Meta’s smart glasses don’t currently have native facial recognition capabilities, but recent reports suggest the company is considering adding such features.)
The Los Angeles trial was not closely watched simply because it was a rare appearance in court for Zuckerberg. This is the first of many cases where Meta will face allegations that its platform has harmed children. In this case and in a separate proceeding in New Mexico, Meta’s lawyers have cast doubt on the idea that social media should be considered a true addiction. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri previously testified at the same Los Angeles trial that Instagram is not “medically addictive.”
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