During recent testimony in a New Mexico child safety trial, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, systematically downplayed the significance of his company's own internal research on social media addiction and its impact on young users. His testimony, part of a broader lawsuit alleging lapses in child safety and platform addiction, emphasized that mobile operating system and app store owners are better equipped to handle age verification for children.
Meta Under Scrutiny in New Mexico
The New Mexico Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Meta in 2023, alleging the company designed its platforms to be addictive and facilitated predators' access to minors. This trial is one of several ongoing legal challenges Meta faces regarding the safety and well-being of its younger users. Central to the prosecution's case are internal Meta documents, which researchers within the company compiled to study how its applications affect teens and other users.During pre-recorded testimony from March, Zuckerberg was directly confronted with these findings. He was repeatedly asked about Meta's understanding of social media addiction and other issues studied by its own teams. His general approach was to cast doubt on the certainty or practical implications of these internal reports.
Downplaying Internal Research
One document highlighted during the testimony described how "contributors on Facebook are likely to learn to associate the act of posting with feedback," which could "lead contributors to seek rewards by visiting the site more often.” Zuckerberg responded by stating he wasn’t "sure if that's actually how it works in practice, but I agree that you're summarizing what they appear to be saying.” This hedging suggests a disconnect, or at least a public distancing, from the conclusions drawn by his own researchers.Another internal chart presented to Zuckerberg reportedly showed that around 20 percent of 11-year-olds were monthly active users on Instagram. This data point is significant, given the platform's stated minimum age of 13. While acknowledging the graph's content, Zuckerberg claimed he was "not familiar with what methodology we were using to estimate this." He added that "if we had direct knowledge that any given person was under the age of 13, that we would have them removed from our services."
The CEO also dismissed findings from a company researcher who noted "there is increasing scientific evidence, particularly in the US, … that the average net effect of Facebook on people's well being is slightly negative." Zuckerberg countered this by stating, "my understanding is that the general consensus view is not that." This consistent pattern of questioning internal research aligns with Meta's broader defense strategy in these child safety trials.
Meta's Broader Defense Strategy
Meta's legal teams and executives have consistently disputed the classification of social media as an "addiction." In public statements, the company maintains that lawsuits rely on "cherry-picked quotes and snippets of conversations taken out of context." They assert that Meta "has consistently put teen safety ahead of growth for over a decade."Zuckerberg's testimony in New Mexico mirrored his appearance in a separate social media addiction trial in Los Angeles. In both instances, he frequently rejected the "characterization" of questions posed by prosecutors. He emphasized that Meta's goal is to make its apps "useful," not merely to increase the amount of time users spend on them.
This isn't the first time a Meta executive has attempted to minimize internal findings. In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen disclosed documents that indicated Facebook's researchers had found Instagram negatively impacted some teen girls' self-perception. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, whose recorded testimony was heard a day prior to Zuckerberg's, similarly referred to some of these disclosures as based on "problematic research." He claimed, "Most research is surveys. We run hundreds of surveys every month."
The Question of Age Verification and Recent Changes
A significant part of Zuckerberg's defense during the Los Angeles trial involved shifting responsibility for age verification. He claimed that mobile operating system and app store owners like Apple and Google were in a better position to verify users' ages than application developers like Meta. This stance suggests that core infrastructure providers, not just app creators, share a burden in preventing underage access.Despite downplaying internal research findings in court, Meta has concurrently introduced new child safety measures. Instagram, for instance, has unveiled a new flagging system to alert parents if their child repeatedly searches for self-harm or suicide content within a short period. These alerts are designed to provide parents with information and expert resources to support their teens during sensitive conversations. This move, following Zuckerberg's various testimonies, indicates an ongoing effort to address concerns about user safety, even while challenging certain legal characterizations of its platforms.
Key Research Findings vs. Meta's Stance
| Research Finding | Zuckerberg/Meta's Stance |
|---|---|
| Facebook posting associated with feedback, leading to seeking rewards by visiting more often. | "Not sure if that's actually how it works in practice," "agree you're summarizing what they appear to be saying." |
| Around 20% of 11-year-olds are monthly Instagram users. | "I agree that the graph says that, I am not familiar with what methodology we were using." |
| Average net effect of Facebook on well-being is slightly negative. | "My understanding is that the general consensus view is not that." |
| Instagram made some teen girls feel worse about themselves. | "Problematic research," "Most research is surveys." |
