- Title: FILE of Meta CEO Zuckerberg, due to testify in social media landmark trial
- Date: 16th February 2026
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE - JANUARY 31, 2024) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) EXCHANGE BETWEEN SENATOR JOSH HAWLEY (REPUBLICAN FROM MISSOURI) AND ZUCKERBERG: HAWLEY: "You didn't take any action. You didn't fire anybody. (ZUCKERBERG OFF-CAMERA:) "That's not true." HAWLEY: "You haven't compensated a single victim. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. There's families of
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Facebook Instagram Mark Zuckerberg Meta mental health social media trial
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,North America,Social Media
- Reuters ID: LVA00E522213022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be called as a witness on Wednesday (February 18), at a trial that will test whether Big Tech platforms can be held liable for their app design.
A 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley G.M. in court is suing Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google, which owns YouTube.
Kaley was hooked on social media at a young age because of the apps' addictive design, her lawyer Mark Lanier told jurors. Lanier said that internal company documents show that, "these companies built machines designed to addict the brains of children, and they did it on purpose."
A verdict against the tech companies could smooth the way for similar cases in state court, and shake the industry's longstanding U.S. legal defense against claims of user harm. Google, Meta, TikTok and Snap face thousands of lawsuits in California.
(Production: Carla O'Connor, Dina Selim) - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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