Google and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta have been accused of deliberately making platforms addictive to children and harming their mental health.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday, where he testified in a trial that has put his company in the spotlight over social media’s harmful effects on children.
A California woman who used Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube as a child has said the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts.
The plaintiff started using YouTube at age 6, Instagram at 11, then TikTok and Snapchat. The latter two already reached a damages settlement with the woman.
The suit accuses the companies of seeking to get children hooked on their services, despite being aware of the mental health harms they can cause.
At issue is the notion of whether or not social media apps are addictive to children.
Zuckerberg regrets slow progress on spotting under-13s on Instagram
Meta and Google have denied the allegations, with Meta pointing to research from the National Academies of Sciences, which did not find that social media affected kids’ mental health.
If Meta loses the case, it will have to pay compensation to the plaintiff, and such a verdict would have an impact on social media companies’ credibility, at a time when more and more governments around the world are banning the apps for children under 16.
While on the stand, Zuckerberg said he regretted how slowly his firm spotted under-13-year-olds on Instagram. He added that improvements had been made.
“I always wish that we could have gotten there sooner,” he added.
Last week, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified at the trial, flatly rejecting the concept of social media addiction.
“I’m sure I’ve said that I was addicted to a Netflix show when I binged it really late one night, but I don’t think that’s the same thing as clinical addiction,” Mosseri said.
Internal emails displayed in court
The Los Angeles case is one of several trials against social media companies in the United States.
Its resolution could help establish a standard for resolving thousands of other lawsuits that blame social media for fueling an epidemic of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicide among young people.
The focus is on the apps’ design, algorithms and personalization features.
The plaintiff’s lawyer presented an internal Instagram memo from 2018 saying, “If we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens.”
Zuckerberg said the document’s presentation in court was “mischaracterising what I am saying,” adding that he “had different conversations over time to try to build different versions of services that kids can safely use.”
Meta had discussed creating a version of Instagram for children under 13, but never made such a service.
Prosecutors also presented internal email exchanges in which Mosseri defended Zuckerberg’s 2020 decision to allow cosmetic beauty filters on Instagram.
Other executives strongly objected, warning of the filters’ harmful effects, particularly on young girls. Supporters of the filters sought to avoid losing market share amid growing competition from TikTok.
Jurors were also shown emails from 2014 and 2015 in which Zuckerberg explicitly aimed to increase the amount of time users spent on the app by double-digit percentages.
Zuckerberg also pointed out the difficulty for app makers in verifying a user’s age and said the responsibility should lie with the makers of mobile devices.
More countries ban apps for minors
The lawsuit is part of a global backlash against social media platforms, as several governments have passed laws to ban them, with the goal of protecting children’s mental health.
Australia’s ban on social media platforms for children under 16 has already gone into effect.
In France, a bill calling for a social media ban on users under 15 years old is making its way through parliament. Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers in Spain is expected to approve a similar ban on users under 16 years old and send it to parliament.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/mark-zuckerberg-testifies-in-social-media-addiction-trial/a-76028273
