Under oath, Meta's Zuckerberg showed why Big Tech can't police itself

Mark Zuckerberg faced a jury for first time this week, testifying about Meta's alleged targeting of children despite internal warnings about addiction risks and mental health harm.

Clare Morell is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of "The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones." She previously worked in the White House Counsel’s Office and the Justice Department during the first Trump administration. 

The plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, focused on three central themes in his questioning: 1) addicting users; 2) allowing underage users access to the platform; and 3) making business decisions that put profits over safety.

Zuckerberg was presented with a 2015 email in which the CEO stated his goal for 2016 was to increase users’ time spent on the platform by 12%. Zuckerberg argued that Meta’s growth targets reflect an aim to give users something useful, not to addict them, and stated that the company does not seek to attract children as users.