To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies.
An extension on your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site.
First modification: 02/19/2026 - 03:45 Last modification: 02/19/2026 - 05:04
The CEO of Meta acknowledged that Instagram was slow to detect minors under 13 years of age during a trial in California that could set a precedent for thousands of lawsuits in the US. The case analyzes whether platforms such as YouTube and Instagram affect youth mental health.
The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, admitted before a jury in Los Angeles that his company could have acted earlier to prevent minors under 13 from accessing Instagram, within the framework of a trial that could redefine the legal responsibility of large digital platforms in the United States.
“We could have done better,” the 41-year-old billionaire declared during his testimony, the first he has offered directly before a jury about the security of his social networks.
The process is expected to last until the end of March in California, and the trial is considered the first in a series of cases that seek to establish a precedent for thousands of lawsuits filed by American families whose children have been affected by excessive consumption of social networks.
Read alsoZuckerberg in the crosshairs: trial in the US against social networks for allegedly generating addiction
The case that triggered the problem
The litigation focuses on the experience of Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old girl who began using YouTube at age six, Instagram at age 11, and later other platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat.
The jury must determine whether YouTube, owned by Google, and Instagram, owned by Meta, are responsible for the mental health problems he suffers from.
Read alsoSpain and the prohibition of social networks for minors under 16: is it the right path? - The Debate - France 24
During the interrogation, the plaintiff's lawyer, Mark Lanier, confronted Zuckerberg with internal documents that indicated that in 2015 Instagram had four million users under the age of 13 in the United States. According to these records, 30% of children between 10 and 12 years old were using the application at that time.
Instagram officially prohibits the registration of minors under 13 years of age, but the plaintiff maintains that the verification mechanisms were insufficient and that the conditions of use were written in a way that a child could hardly understand them.
Zuckerberg defended that the company has implemented improvements in age verification and assured that “we are now in the right place,” although he acknowledged that in the past there were corporate objectives linked to the time users spent on the platform.
The case does not focus only on the content published by users, but also on the design of the applications, their algorithms and the personalization functions that, according to the lawsuit, could encourage compulsive use among minors.
TikTok and Snapchat reached confidential settlements before the start of the trial. At the same time, Meta faces other legal proceedings in California and New Mexico related to the protection of minors and the impact of its platforms.
Investors are closely following the development of the case, aware that any structural change at Instagram could affect a business model that moves billions of dollars in digital advertising each year.
Read also "Addiction is profitable": the trial of Meta and Google for the effects of networks on children
With information from AFP and Reuters.
Related keywords
The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.
