Mark Zuckerberg testifies in social media addiction trial that Meta just wants Instagram to be ‘useful’

Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday in a high-profile jury trial over social media addiction charges. In an apparition described by NBC News Described as “combative,” the Facebook founder reportedly said Meta’s goal was to make Instagram “useful” and not to increase the time users spend on the app.

At the booth, Zuckerberg was asked about a company document that said improving engagement was among the company’s “goals,” according to CNBC. But Zuckerberg said the company had “made a conscious decision to move away from those goals, and instead focus on utility,” according to The Associated Press. “If something has value, people will use it more because it’s useful to them,” he said.

The lawsuit follows a lawsuit filed by a California woman identified as “KGM” in court documents. The young woman, now 20 years old, claims to have been the victim, when she was a child, of addictive features on Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. TikTok and Snap chose to settle before the case went to trial.

Zuckerberg was also asked about his previous public statements, including his remarks on Joe Rogan’s podcast last year that he could not be fired by Meta’s board because he controls the majority of voting rights. According to The New York Times, Zuckerberg accused the plaintiffs’ lawyer of “misrepresenting” his past comments more than a dozen times.

Zuckerberg’s appearance in court apparently also prompted the judge to warn those in the courtroom not to record the proceedings using AI glasses. As CNBC note, members of Zuckerberg’s entourage were spotted wearing Meta’s smart glasses as the CEO was escorted to the courthouse. It’s unclear whether anyone actually used the glasses in court, but legal journalist Meghann Cuniff reported that the judge was particularly concerned about the possibility of jurors being recorded or subjected to facial recognition. (Meta’s smart glasses currently don’t have native facial recognition capabilities, but recent reports suggest the company is considering adding such features.)

The Los Angeles trial was closely watched, not only because it was a rare appearance by Zuckerberg in court. This is one of the first of several cases in which Meta will face allegations that its platforms harmed children. In that case and in a separate proceeding in New Mexico, Meta’s lawyers cast doubt on the idea that social media should be considered a full-blown addiction. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri previously testified at the same trial in Los Angeles that Instagram does not create “clinical addiction.”