Ex-Meta Director: Zuckerberg Put Profit Over Child Safety in Landmark Trial
Ex-Meta Director: Zuckerberg Put Profit Over Child Safety in Landmark Trial
Former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar testifies Mark Zuckerberg cultivated a culture where child safety took a backseat to user engagement. Landmark trial could reshape Facebook & Instagram's future.
A former Meta Platforms engineering director has delivered damning testimony, asserting that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a corporate environment where child safety was consistently secondary to user engagement and corporate growth across Facebook and Instagram. Arturo Bejar, a prominent critic and the states' first witness, made these statements during his second day of testimony in a pivotal legal battle that could fundamentally alter the landscape for two of the world's most popular applications.
The lawsuit, brought by a broad coalition of states including California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, along with 25 other states, accuses Meta of meticulously crafting its products to hook children, sparking issues like depression, anxiety, and suicide. Furthermore, the company is charged with deceiving consumers regarding platform safety and violating federal law by improperly collecting and using personal data of children under 13. The trial, which commenced on Tuesday, is slated to last six weeks, with Zuckerberg himself expected to testify.
Bejar emphasized Zuckerberg's close involvement in decision-making, explaining that Meta's top-down culture ensured that product design changes would only occur if he personally ordered them. "If Mark makes something a priority, mountains move in months," Bejar stated, highlighting the CEO's ultimate control. He also directly disputed Zuckerberg's October 2021 response to whistleblower Frances Haugen, who had alleged Meta knew its products were unsafe for children but did nothing for higher profits. Zuckerberg had claimed Meta constantly used research to improve products.
Bejar countered this, saying, "It's so false, every part of it." He concluded, "You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids," suggesting a deliberate "don't ask, don't tell" approach when it came to underage users on platforms like Instagram. Bejar's testimony paints a picture of a company prioritizing its bottom line over the well-being of its youngest users, setting the stage for a contentious legal showdown.
