Original article: EEUU: Mark Zuckerberg testificó en juicio donde se acusa que Instagram y otras redes fueron diseñadas deliberadamente para hacer adictos a usuarios jóvenes

Mark Zuckerberg Testifies in Court Over Allegations of Instagram’s Role in Youth Addiction

For the first time, billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to testify in person before a jury regarding a lawsuit accusing Instagram and other social media platforms of being deliberately designed to make young users addicted.

Zuckerberg arrived at a Los Angeles court on Wednesday, February 18, to provide testimony in a trial focused on social media addiction.

At the heart of the case is a lawsuit filed by Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old from California who reports suffering from severe mental health issues and addiction linked to her extensive use of social media from childhood.

The lawsuit alleges that «drawing from behavioral and neurological techniques exploited by the gambling industry and tobacco sector, the defendants intentionally embedded features in their products designed to maximize youth engagement to increase advertising revenue.»

According to the Mexican media outlet La Jornada, the twelve-member jury in Los Angeles will hear testimonies until the end of March to determine whether YouTube – owned by Google – along with Instagram and Facebook – owned by Meta – bear responsibility for the mental health issues claimed by the plaintiff.

«The CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the most anticipated witness in this landmark trial in California, which is the first in a series of cases that could set a legal precedent for thousands of lawsuits filed by American families against major social media platforms,» adds La Jornada.

Additionally, a report from Reuters revealed that the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, presented the jury with emails from 2014 and 2015 in which Zuckerberg outlined goals to increase user time spent on the application by double-digit percentage points.

In response to these allegations, Reuters states that Zuckerberg acknowledged that while Meta previously had objectives related to the amount of time users spent on the application, it has since shifted its focus.

We will continue to provide updates. Photo Credit: AFP Agency.