Mark Zuckerberg Testifies at Landmark Trial on Teen Social-Media Addiction

“I’ve done media over time, but I’m sort of well-known to be very bad at this,” the 41-year-old billionaire told the jury Tech Backlash Mark Zuckerberg Testifies at Landmark Trial on Teen Social-Media Addiction “I’ve done media over time, but I’m sort of well-known to be very bad at this,” the 41-year-old billionaire told the jury By Nancy Dillon Nancy Dillon Contact Nancy Dillon on X Contact Nancy Dillon by Email Mark Zuckerberg Testifies at Landmark Trial on Teen Social-Media Addiction Tupac Murder Suspect Loses Bid to Suppress Evidence from Nighttime Search Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Testifies, Says ‘Problematic Use’ Is Not ‘Clinical Addiction’ View all posts by Nancy Dillon February 18, 2026 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to the Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 18, 2026. Jill Connelly/Getty Images Billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand Wednesday at a landmark tech-addiction trial in Los Angeles and flatly denied he ever set company-wide marching orders to juice “time spent” on Meta’s platforms or lure kids under 13 as users. Under blistering cross-examination from plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier, the Meta chief looked visibly irritated at times, arching his eyebrows and shifting in his chair as he was confronted with a string of internal emails and slide decks. Lanier repeatedly cut him off, citing time limits, as the exchange grew tense. One such moment centered on an email Zuckerberg sent in December 2015, writing, “What I hope we can accomplish in 2016,” which included the aim to increase “time spent” by 12 percent over a three-year arc. Lanier asked if Zuckerberg could see a copy of the email in a binder in front of him. “Did you write that goal?” Lanier pressed. “I believe I wrote this email, if that’s what you’re asking,” Zuckerberg replied. “And, like I said, we used to have goals around this, and at some point, I decided to change that.” He insisted he later scrapped “time spent” targets in favor of “milestones” tied to delivering “value” to users. And he suggested the email was more brainstorm than mandate. “I’m not sure if these were official goals or anything,” he said. “I wrote my thoughts on what I was hoping to see.” Lanier wasn’t buying it. “Sir, you are the decision maker for your whole company,” he shot back. “If there’s an email entitled ‘company goals,’ and you say you want time spent to increase 12 percent in three years and 10 percent in five years, don’t you think people will interpret that as company goals?” “I don’t know how it got distilled into company goals,” Zuckerberg responded flatly, maintaining he no longer runs Meta that way. ‘I’m well-known to be very bad at this’ Over several hours on the stand, the 41-year-old tech titan leaned into his famously awkward persona. Asked whether he’d undergone extensive media training, he cracked, “I’ve done media over time, but I’m sort of well-known to be very bad at this,” drawing light laughter from the gallery. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century When questioned about his staggering fortune — estimated at more than $200 billion — Zuckerberg volunteered, “It might be worth adding that I pledged to give almost all my money to charity.” He also testified that “a reasonable company” would aim to help users, not harm them, in order to keep their business. The state-court trial zeroes in on claims that Instagram and YouTube functioned as “digital casinos,” allegedly engineered with addictive features to hook kids and keep them scrolling despite known dangers. The plaintiff, a 20-year-old California woman identified as K.G.M. because she was a minor when she allegedly became addicted to social media, says the platforms fueled anxiety, body dysmorphia, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Her case is the first “bellwether” trial among more than a thousand coordinated personal injury suits against social media giants. K.G.M. was in the courtroom for the first two hours of Zuckerberg’s testimony but later left. ‘Problematic use’ or ‘clinical addiction’? Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook in 2004. The company acquired Instagram in 2012 for approximately $1 billion, and was rebranded as Meta Platforms in 2021. Last week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified as the second witness in the high-profile trial. Mosseri told jurors he believes there’s “such a thing as using a social media platform more than you feel good about,” but he considers such behavior “problematic use,” not a “clinical addiction.” Related Content Tupac Murder Suspect Loses Bid to Suppress Evidence from Nighttime Search Blake Lively an