Mark Zuckerberg Testifies In L.a. Trial Over Claims Social Media Makes Kids Addicted - Beritaja

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg made an extended, pugnacious quality successful Los Angeles Superior Court connected Wednesday, defending his institution from the witnesser guidelines against a suit that alleges societal media harms children.

The Meta leader appeared successful a acheronian suit and grey tie, his signature chestnut curls somewhat mussed, darting occasional tense looks astatine the assemblage and the 20-year-old plaintiff, who sat successful the courtroom gallery.

“I’m not —I deliberation I’m really benignant of good known to beryllium very bad astatine this,” Zuckerberg told the young woman’s attorney, Mark Lanier, erstwhile pressed about the master polish of his testimony.

In a melodramatic infinitesimal precocious successful the morning, Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl sharply warned anyone successful the courtroom against wearing Meta’s AI glasses.

“If your glasses are recording, you must return them off,” the judge said. “It is the bid of this tribunal that location must beryllium nary facial nickname of the jury. If you person done that, you must delete it. This is very serious.”

The admonition was met pinch soundlessness successful the courtroom.

Simply getting Zuckerberg connected the guidelines Wednesday was a coup for the plaintiffs and a liability for his company’s platforms, which must now contend pinch profound nationalist distaste for the Meta figurehead.

According to a study past twelvemonth by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, the overwhelming mostly of American adults person an unfavorable position of Zuckerberg.

The percent of adults who position him very favorably is connected par pinch the stock who judge the Earth is level aliases that aliens unrecorded among us.

“It’s a very large deal,” said Jenny Kim, an lawyer successful a related lawsuit. “The full world is coming to watch him.”

Crowds filled the plaza extracurricular the Spring Street courthouse downtown Wednesday, pinch lines stretched retired the doorway to participate the building, wherever galore had waited for hours conscionable for a glimpse of the CEO.

The plaintiff, a Chico, Calif., female referred to arsenic Kaley G.M., appeared successful the courtroom for the first clip since she was concisely introduced during opening statements connected Feb. 9.

Her suit is simply a trial lawsuit chosen from among hundreds charging that Instagram and YouTube were designed to snare young users and support them hooked connected their services. Two different defendants, TikTok and Snap, person settled retired of court.

Zuckerberg testified that children nether 13 person ne'er been allowed connected the platform. Kaley said successful her declare that she started utilizing Instagram astatine property 9.

“I mostly deliberation that location are a group of people, perchance a meaningful number of group who dishonesty about their property successful bid to usage our services,” he said. “There’s a abstracted and very important mobility about enforcement, and it’s very difficult.”

Lanier showed an soul archive from 2018 suggesting that Instagram believed about 4 cardinal users were nether 13 — about 30% of each 10 to 12-year-olds successful the U.S. astatine the time.

“There’s a favoritism about whether personification is allowed to do thing and whether we’ve caught them for breaking the rule,” Zuckerberg said successful consequence to repeated questioning. “I don’t spot why this is truthful complicated. It’s been our clear argumentation that group nether the property of 13 are not allowed.”

Meta’s lawyers person truthful acold sought to discredit the thought of societal media addiction, while simultaneously casting uncertainty connected whether Kaley really has it.

Zuckerberg’s individual likability is irrelevant to the case, the institution said.

“The mobility for the assemblage successful Los Angeles is whether Instagram was a important facet successful the plaintiff’s intelligence wellness struggles,” said Meta spokeswoman Stephanie Otway. “The grounds will show she faced galore significant, difficult challenges good earlier she ever utilized societal media.”

Parents and family members clasp earlier entering the Los Angeles Superior Court connected February 18, 2026, for a civilian proceedings complete a suit that claims societal media giants deliberately designed their platforms to beryllium addictive to children.

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)

Regardless of the result of the trial, Zuckerberg’s grounds has the imaginable to complicate Meta’s image and governmental ambitions, experts said.

“Just his quality connected the guidelines illustrates really nationalist sentiment has shifted,” said David McCuan, a governmental subject professor astatine Sonoma State University, who studies tech successful politics. “That has important impacts connected Meta’s power and large tech’s power successful California politics.”

Indeed, the CEO takes the guidelines arsenic Meta doubles down its efforts to power Golden State affairs.

The institution has agelong been a cardinal subordinate successful authorities and section races, pouring millions into ballot measures, the authorities legislature and candidates for California governor. It regularly lavishes rate connected some sides of an issue, and opponents successful the aforesaid race.

Last year, the corp sunk $20 cardinal into a caller authorities ace PAC — Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California — pinch an oculus to cardinal 2026 races.

It has besides pledged $50 cardinal to a associated task pinch Sacramento State University to redevelop the Capital Mall.

“They’ve go overmuch much violative pinch their money,” McCuan said. “They’re not conscionable blocking legislation, they’ve been much actively trying to alteration their image.

That has the imaginable to backfire, he and others said.

“Voters are beautiful upset heading into the midterms,” the master said. “It comes astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile consumers, users, voters, are fresh to propulsion the book astatine personification aliases something. Now you person a feline who could seizure that anger.”

“When you deliberation about really Meta is utilizing Meta’s money, it’s people Zuckerberg’s slush money to play successful California aliases nationalist politics,” said Sacha Haworth, executive head of The Tech Oversight Project, a watchdog group.

A media campy is set-up extracurricular the Spring Street Courthouse successful downtown Los Angeles, wherever Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was scheduled to attest connected Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

At the aforesaid clip Meta expanded its governmental spending, Zuckerberg and his woman Priscilla Chan aggressively redirected their charitable giving to AI and technological research.

“I person pledged to springiness almost each of my money to charity, and I attraction connected giving billions of dollars to subject research, truthful the amended that Meta does, the much we’re capable to do that benignant of research,” he told Lanier erstwhile pushed connected his individual liking successful the company.

The judge successful parallel national litigation has already ruled Zuckerberg can’t look individual liability, putting his estimated $220 cardinal luck retired of scope for the thousands of plaintiffs.

“Most of [my] banal successful Meta is owned by the CZI organization,” the CEO told the jury. “We put successful subject investigation and different charitable causes.”