Mark Zuckerberg Downplays Meta's Own Research In New Mexico Child Safety Trial

Jurors successful a New Mexico kid information proceedings heard grounds from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today. During pre-recorded testimony, Zuckerberg was many times asked astir nan company's knowing of societal media addiction and different issues that had been studied by its researchers.

During nan deposition, which was recorded past March, Zuckerberg was asked astir galore findings from researchers astatine Meta who studied really nan company's apps impact users and teens. The CEO downplayed nan value of galore of these documents.

Early successful nan testimony, which was viewed by Engadget connected Courtroom View Network, Zuckerberg was questioned astir a archive connected nan effect of feedback connected Facebook users. The archive stated that "contributors connected Facebook are apt to study to subordinate nan enactment of posting pinch feedback" which will "lead contributors to activity rewards by visiting nan tract much often.” Zuckerberg said he wasn’t “sure if that's really really it useful successful practice, but I work together that you're summarizing what they look to beryllium saying.”

Later, nan CEO was questioned astir a archive that graphed nan proportionality of 11 and 12-year-olds who were monthly progressive users connected Instagram. The floor plan indicated that astatine nan time, astir 20 percent of 11-year-olds were monthly users of nan service. "I work together that nan chart says that, I americium not acquainted pinch what methodology we were utilizing to estimate this," Zuckerberg said. "I presume that if we had nonstop knowledge that immoderate fixed personification was nether nan property of 13, that we would person them removed from our services."

New Mexico's lawyer wide sued nan institution in 2023 for alleged lapses successful kid safety, including facilitating predators' entree to minors and building features it knew were addictive. In court, Meta's lawyers and executives have disputed nan thought that societal media should beryllium considered an "addiction." In nationalist statements, nan institution has said that lawsuits person relied connected "cherry-picked quotes and snippets of conversations taken retired of context" and that it "has consistently put teen information up of maturation for complete a decade."

As pinch his caller grounds successful a abstracted trial complete societal media addiction successful Los Angeles, Zuckerberg many times rejected nan "characterization" of questions that were posed to him. And he said that Meta's extremity was to make its apps "useful" alternatively than to summation nan magnitude of clip group walk pinch them.

Zuckerberg was besides questioned astir a archive written by a institution interrogator that stated "there is expanding technological evidence, peculiarly successful nan US, … that nan mean nett effect of Facebook connected people's good being is somewhat negative." The CEO said that "my knowing is that nan wide statement position is not that."

It's not nan first clip a Meta executive has tried to downplay nan value of soul research. The institution utilized a akin strategy in 2021 aft erstwhile worker turned whistleblower Frances Haugen disclosed documents showing that Facebook's researchers had recovered that Instagram made immoderate teen girls feel worse astir themselves.

Zuckerberg's grounds was played 1 time aft jurors heard recorded grounds from Instagram main Adam Mosseri. The exec was besides asked astir Haugen's disclosures and Meta's consequence to them. Some of those disclosures were based connected "problematic research," he said. "Most investigation is surveys. We tally hundreds of surveys each month."