- Judge warns Zuckerberg team over recording-capable Meta glasses.
- Incident occurrs at Los Angeles social media trial.
- Plaintiff alleges addiction harms from Meta platforms.
- Trial outcome could influence similar lawsuits nationwide.
The entourage of Mark Zuckerberg was threatened with contempt of court, who attended a Los Angeles courtroom where video recorders are banned with a warning shot by the judge when it came to trial over social media addiction in a case of high interest.
The event happened with Zuckerberg coming to testify in an examination of whether large social media platforms were purposely designed to promote compulsive use among the youths. The discussion in the courtroom took a short momentary break of focus on the content of his testimony and instead on the existence of wearable devices that could record.
The judge that is currently presiding the case in Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl threatened to impose an immediate penalty on anybody who recorded anything within the courtroom. And if you have done that, you will have to take that out, or you will be in contempt of the court, said Kuhl. “This is very serious.”
Documenting concerns in a high profile trial
The Meta AI glasses is an item manufactured by Meta Platforms that has a camera and audio functionality. According to the report by CNBC, the executive assistant of Zuckerberg, Andrea Besmehn, as well as another person with him, were spotted wearing the contraptions on entering the court.
Photography and video recording are usually not allowed in courtrooms except on special request especially when handling high profile civil litigations. The caution of Judge Kuhl highlighted the sensitivity of the possible digital recording during proceedings that had already attracted a lot of negative attention.
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The core of the lawsuit is that a 20-year-old plaintiff, referred to in the court records as either KGM or Kaley, claimed that addiction to social media platforms led to mental health difficulties. The case may have a wider impact on a new wave of cases against social media companies on platform design and youth engagement.
Before the trial, TikTok and Snap settled the case with the plaintiff. The case is now centered more on Meta and its subsidiary Instagram and YouTube owned by Google.
Zuckerberg Interrogated on Design and Dynamics of Platforms
In his testimony, Zuckerberg was questioned as to whether Meta had internal objectives of engaging users more often. The plaintiff lawyer, Mark Lanier, cites a document of the previous testimony of the Instagram head, Adam Mosseri, stating that the company intended to increase the average daily engagement to 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 minutes in 2026.
Zuckerberg replied that, although engagement measures were used to be measured, the company had put an emphasis on utility. He presented one such assumption which is that on the one hand, the usefulness of something causes people to use it more, as it is valuable to them.
In response to the question about a tendency of people to utilize addictive products more often, Zuckerberg answered: I do not know what to say to that. I do not believe so in this case.
Media coaching was also touched upon in the questioning. Lanier quoted internal messages indicating that Meta communications department was urging Zuckerberg to look less artificial, direct, human, insightful, and real, and not to work hard, pretend, sound robotic, corporate, or cheesy. Zuckerberg refuted the coaching, and described the guidance as feedback. I believe I am really known to be too bad at that, continued to say, to your honor, and caused the court to laugh.
Youth Safety and Age Scrutiny
A significant part of the hearing focused on the user policy of users under 13 on Instagram. Zuckerberg himself also testified that some children will sign up with improper age information, but added that Meta will delete accounts when they are discovered to be underage. He has observed that the platform has terms of service that contain age requirements and stated that age verification should be handled by the operators of operating systems and app stores in a better position.
One of the attorneys representing the plaintiff in the case brought against Zuckerberg in court told the man that he wanted a 9-year-old to read all the small print, as reported by CNBC. That is what you are basing your oath on that children under 13 years are forbidden?
In the lawsuit, Meta has refuted the claims. A spokesperson of the company told the Associated Press that falsely, Meta is adamantly opposed to the claims according to a statement and is convinced that the evidence will reveal our lifelong facilitation of young people.
Los Angeles case is being prosecuted with other legal challenges. In New Mexico, the state attorney general also is filing a lawsuit against Meta, claiming it has violated consumer protection by failing to keep children off its sites in cases of sexual exploitation.
Since the trial is still going on, internal company documents and platform design preference and safety considerations in favor of younger users will be further explored as the trial progresses.
Suggested FAQs:
1. Why were Meta AI glasses not allowed in the court when Zuckerberg was in court?
Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl cautioned about the use of recording gadgets in the Los Angeles courtroom. The entourage of Zuckerberg was observed wearing Meta AI glasses that had the capacity of recording and the judge threatened to impose contempt for any recording inside.
2. What is the social media addiction case against Meta?
The case revolves around claims that Meta and YouTube made their sites addictive to young users. One of the plaintiffs, a 20-year-old, says that the extended use of social media caused mental health problems.
3. Did Zuckerberg acknowledge that Instagram had targets in terms of the time spent?
Zuckerberg admitted that Instagram once had targets of the user engagement time but explained that the company shifted the attention to the utility of the platform. Internal reports submitted to court indicated a goal of 40 minutes by 2023 and 46 minutes by 2026.
4. What was the reaction of Zuckerberg to social media addiction claims?
When questioned on whether addictive products make them use them more, Zuckerberg replied by stating that he did not think that this was applicable to the platforms of Meta. He insisted that people spend longer times in apps since they value them.
5. What were the complaints about underage users on Instagram?
The attorneys doubted that Meta is efficient in keeping children younger than 13. Zuckerberg stated that the company filters out detected underage users but claimed that the operation system providers such as Apple and Google are in a better position to handle age checks and verification.
