LOS ANGELES (AP).— Mark Zuckerberg faced lawyers yesterday in a Los Angeles court, where the CEO of Meta answered questions about the use of Instagram among young people, his testimony before Congress and the internal recommendations he has received regarding be “authentic” and not “robotic”.
He Zuckerberg testimony is part of an unprecedented trial in the United States on social networks which questions whether Meta platforms They cause addiction and deliberately harm minors.
Under cross-examination by the plaintiff’s attorney, Zuckerberg noted that he continues to agree with his previous statement that the existing body of scientific work has not shown that social media causes harm to mental health.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, asked Zuckerberg if people tend to use something more often if it’s addictive.
“I’m not sure what to say about that,” Zuckerberg responded. “I don’t think that applies in this case.”
Attorneys representing the plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, say her use of social media at an early age made her addicted to technology and aggravated her depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta Platforms y YouTubeof Google are the two remaining defendants in the case. TikTok and Snap They resolved their cases through an agreement.
At the beginning of his interrogation, the lawyer Mark Lanier He laid out three options for what people can do with vulnerable people: help them, ignore them, or “take advantage of them and use them for our own purposes.”
Zuckerberg stated that he agrees that the latter option is not what a responsible company should do, saying, “I think a reasonable company should try to help the people who use their services.”
Lanier questioned Zuckerberg at length regarding a comment he made during a legislative hearing, in which he claimed that Instagram employees are not set goals to increase the amount of time people spend on the platform.
Lanier presented internal documents that appeared to contradict that statement. Zuckerberg responded that they previously had goals related to the time users spend on the platform, but clarified that he and the company made a conscious decision to drop those goals, focusing instead on utility. He said he believes in the “basic assumption” that “if something is valuable, people will use it more because it is useful to them.”
Lanier also asked Zuckerberg about what he described as extensive media training, including for testimony like the one he was giving in court.
“Authentic and real”
Lanier referenced an internal document about feedback about Zuckerberg’s tone of voice on his own social media, urging him to appear “authentic, direct, human, insightful and real,” and instructing him to “not try too hard” or come across as “fake, robotic, corporate or cheesy” when testifying.
Zuckerberg rejected the idea that he received training on how to answer questions or present himself, saying that those advising him were “just giving feedback.”
Regarding his media appearances and public presentations, Zuckerberg said: “I think I’m actually pretty well known for being kind of bad at this.”
Lanier spent much of his time with Zuckerberg asking about the company’s age verification policies.
“I don’t see why this is so complicated,” Zuckerberg stressed after a long exchange, reiterating that the company’s policy restricts use by those under 13 years of age and they are currently working to detect users who have lied about their age to circumvent the restrictions.
Zuckerberg largely stuck to his talking points, referencing his goal of build a platform that is valuable to users, pointing out on several occasions that did not agree with Lanier’s “characterization” from your questions or from Zuckerberg’s own comments.
Zuckerberg was also pressed about policies regarding cosmetic filters on Instagram, saying he doesn’t believe there is enough evidence to indicate the harm filters can cause and stating that he has a “strict standard” for blocking features that would limit people’s expression.
Lanier referenced outside experts who were hired by Meta to evaluate the filters and their potential impacts, saying all 18 of them raised concerns.
The young plaintiff’s lawyers put Zuckerberg up against the wall by showing him a document that suggested that By 2018, about 4 million users were under 13 years old, about 30% of all children between 10 and 12 years old in the United States. at that time, according to information from the Los Angeles Times.
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