Mark Zuckerberg arrives to court in ill-fitting suit flanked by his lawyer to fight landmark social media addiction trial
Meta mogul Mark Zuckerberg arrived at court in California wearing an ill-fitting suit as he prepared to take the stand in a landmark social media addiction case.
Zuckerberg, 41, arrived at the Los Angeles Superior Court in an oversized navy blue suit.
It wasn’t designed to fit the billionaire, as some critics likened it to a second-grader’s oversized First Communion dress.
The social media mogul was flanked by his lawyer, Paul Schmidt, who wore a deadpan expression as he entered with a disposable Starbucks coffee in hand.
Zuckerberg looked calm and collected and even offered a small smile for the cameras as he entered the courthouse.
Meta’s CEO is expected to answer challenging questions on Wednesday from lawyers representing a 20-year-old woman, identified by the initials KGM, who claims that her use of social media at an early age made her dependent on technology and increased depression and suicidal thoughts.
Meta Platforms and Google’s YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the lawsuit, which TikTok and Snap settled.
Zuckerberg has testified in other cases and answered Congressional questions about teen safety on Meta platforms, and at that hearing he apologized to families whose lives were disrupted by tragedies believed to have been caused by social media.
Mark Zuckerberg, 41, arrived at Los Angeles Superior Court wearing an oversized navy blue suit jacket and a pair of suit pants that looked too big.
The billionaire’s outfit was not tailored and appears to have been purchased straight off the rack; some critics compare it to a sophomore’s oversized First Communion suit.
Mark Zuckerberg and his team appeared before the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday
But this hearing marks the first time Zuckerberg will answer similar questions in front of a jury; Grieving parents are expected to appear in the limited courtroom open to the public.
The case, along with two others, has been named a leading case, meaning its outcome could influence the course of thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies.
A Meta spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit and said they were ‘confident the evidence will demonstrate our long-standing commitment to supporting young people’.
Schmidt said in his opening statement that the company wasn’t disputing that KGM had mental health struggles, but rather that Instagram played a major role in those struggles.
He pointed to medical records showing a tumultuous home life, and both he and an attorney representing YouTube claim he turned to the platforms as a coping mechanism or a way to escape mental health struggles.
Zuckerberg’s testimony comes a week after testimony from Meta’s head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, who said in the courtroom that he disagreed with the idea that people could be clinically addicted to social media platforms.
Mosseri argued that Instagram was working hard to protect young people who use the service, and said that ‘making decisions that are profitable for us in the long run but bad for people’s welfare is not good for the company’.
Zuckerberg’s lawyer, Paul Schmidt, wore a deadpan expression as he entered with a disposable Starbucks coffee in his hand.
Zuckerberg looked calm and collected and even offered a small smile for the cameras as he entered the courthouse.
Mark Zuckerberg’s bodyguards hold off bystanders and press as he arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday morning
A man walks past case files with Zuckerberg’s name on them as he is escorted to the courthouse Wednesday morning
Parents and family members, including some of the plaintiffs in the case, embrace before entering Los Angeles Superior Court for a social media trial tasked with determining whether social media giants intentionally designed their platforms to create addiction in children.
Many of Mosseri’s questions to the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Lanier, centered on cosmetic filters that alter people’s appearance on Instagram; It’s a topic Lanier is sure to revisit with Zuckerberg.
He is also expected to face questions about Instagram’s algorithm, the endless nature of Meta’s feeds and other features the plaintiffs claim.
Meta also faces a separate lawsuit that began last week in New Mexico.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
