Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial [Video]

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 Mark Zuckerberg testified in a landmark social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube, but he and some members of his entourage arrived to the Los Angeles courthouse wearing Meta AI glasses.

Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl threatened to hold them all in contempt of court and reminded them “this is very serious.”

The question this trial seeks to determine: Are social media platforms designed to deliberately hook young people? The plaintiff, 20-year-old “KGM” or “Kaley” alleges she developed mental health issues due to an addiction to social media. Snap and TikTok opted to settle with her before the trial began.

Zuckerberg Questioned

Attorney Mark Lanier asked Zuckerberg if people use something more if it’s addictive, he responded, “I’m not sure what to say to that. I don’t think it applies here.”

When questioned about saying Instagram employees are not given goals to encourage users to spend more time on the platform, he pushed back against the idea of that being a company goal. However, internal documents from Adam Mosseri’s testimony contradicted that statement as they said the company aimed to increase user daily agreement time on the platforms to 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 in 2026.

Zuckerberg stated Instagram had previously held time engagement goals but moved to focus on utility, given the “basic assumption” “if something is valuable, people will use it more because it’s useful to them.”

Then, he was questioned about the efforts of Instagram to removed users who were under the age of 13. Zuckerberg said the company includes age limits in the terms during the sigh-up process and removes all identified underage users.

“You expect a 9-year-old to read all of the time print? That’s your basis for swearing under oath that children under 13 are not allowed,” asked an attorney for the plaintiff according to CNBC.

Zuckerberg stated some children “lie about their age in order to use the services. I don’t see what this is so complicated … we have rules, and people broadly understand that.”

It was argued the stated age policy is meaningless if the platform is not effectively age-gated. Most social media platforms use self-reported birthdays for age verification.

Age of Access

Plaintiff KGM began using the social media platform at the age of nine. The now 20-year-old alleges her use of social media as a child and teenager led to her development of body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, and addiction. She alleges the harm came from using the app during the ages of significant brain development.

Lanier, with the help of some others, unrolled a 50-foot collage of the selfies KGM posted on Instagram. Many of the images with the use of a beauty filter and asked if Meta ever investigated her account for unhealthy behavior. Zuckerberg did not answer.

Beauty Filters

According to internal documents, 18 internal experts warned the platform against using beauty filters that mimicked plastic surgery declaring them harmful to teenage girls. The experts asserted these filters could contribute to body dysmorphia.

Zuckerberg and Mosseri reversed a temporary ban and allowed the filters. Attorneys for the plaintiff argue the decision exposed vulnerable young users to tools linked to mental health issues.

After lifting the ban, Zuckerberg stated Instagram did not create filters or recommend them to users. “I think oftentimes telling people that they can’t express themselves like that is overbearing.”

Attorneys for the plaintiff focused on three lines of questioning: addicting users, allowing underage users onto the platform, and business decisions that promoted profits over safety.

The focus of the argument being “the user is the product.” Social media is free monetarily but costs users time, attention, and information. The more hours on the platform means more advertisements to sell.

Sources:

Yahoo: Mark Zuckerberg’s entourage threatened with contempt for wearing Meta AI glasses into a no-recording courtroom
CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg said he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss ‘wellbeing of teen and kids’
Fox News: Under oath, Meta’s Zuckerberg showed why Big Tech can’t police itself

Featured Image Courtesy ofamenclinicsphotos ac’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License