Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified this week that enforcing Instagram’s age limits is “very difficult,” as he took the stand in a landmark social media addiction trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
According to Bloomberg News, he said the company has introduced “proactive tools” to identify and remove accounts belonging to children under 13 but acknowledged the challenge. “There are a set of people — potentially a meaningful number of people — that lie about their age,” Zuckerberg told jurors.
The trial, which began Feb. 9 and is expected to run through March, centers on Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old woman who alleges that Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube contributed to years of mental health struggles.
Her attorney, Mark Lanier, pressed Zuckerberg on whether Meta was aware of underage users, noting she had an Instagram account at age 9. “You expect the nine-year-old to read all of the fine print?” Lanier asked.
Zuckerberg said Meta ultimately required users to provide dates of birth despite internal debates over “privacy sensitivity.” “I think we got to the right place over time,” he said.
The case is seen as a test for thousands of similar lawsuits against major platforms, which face billions in damages. Meta has denied wrongdoing and says it has strengthened safeguards for teens.