Developing: Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand as Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial Tests Silicon Valley's Legal Shield
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday before a Los Angeles jury in what legal experts are calling the most consequential trial the social media industry has ever faced. The case, brought by a now 20-year-old woman identified only as KGM, alleges that Instagram and YouTube were deliberately engineered as 'digital casinos' designed to exploit vulnerabilities in young people's brains — fueling depression, suicidal thoughts, and compulsive use that plaintiffs' attorneys equate to clinical addiction. The trial, which has been underway for several weeks in Los Angeles County Superior Court, represents a potential inflection point for the technology industry. At its core is a single, sweeping question with billions of dollars in implications: Are social media platforms defective products? A verdict against Meta and Google could reshape how Silicon Valley designs its products, trigger settlement talks for more than 1,600 consolidated lawsuits from parents and school districts, and establish legal precedent that pierces the long-standing protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Both TikTok and Snap, originally named as co-defendants, settled for undisclosed sums before the trial began, leaving Meta and Google's YouTube as the two remaining companies in the dock. Bereaved parents holding framed photographs of children who died after encountering harm on social media have filled the courtroom gallery throughout the proceedings, underscoring the deeply personal stakes behind the legal arguments.