Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of social media giant Meta, has taken the stand in California in a landmark trial, to answer accusations that platforms including Instagram cause addiction and serious harm to users.
The lead plaintiff in the case is a 20-year-old woman identified by the initials KGM, who claims her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts.
Mr Zuckerberg appeared to struggle to defend his company from claims it targeted young users, as he was confronted by lawyers with multiple internal documents.
Meta has repeatedly maintained that it has taken action to protect young users and bars people under the age of 13. But in court, Mark Lanier, the lawyer for KGM – presented an internal email raising concerns that the firm’s age limits were "unenforced".
Another presentation from 2018 showed the firm discussing the retention of "tweens" on the platform, despite the company in theory barring users under the age of 13.
Zuckerberg said he "always" regretted not making faster progress to identify users under 13, but he believed the company had reached the "right place over time". He accused Lanier of taking the tween document out of context, saying the company had had "various discussions" about building a version of its product that could be used by children under 13 "in a regulated way".
It was Zuckerberg’s first appearance before a jury, after years of rising backlash against Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Facebook.
The trial, in which Google’s YouTube is also a defendant, is being closely watched for its implications for thousands of similar lawsuits. TikTok and Snapchat, which had also been named in the lawsuit, settled shortly before trial was due to begin. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.
Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Peter Bowes in Los Angeles.
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