A surprise product placement briefly diverted attention from Mark Zuckerberg’s much-awaited testimony at a groundbreaking social media addiction trial on Wednesday.
Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl warned that members of Zuckerberg’s entourage could be held in contempt of court for wearing the recording-capable glasses. Courtroom recording is prohibited.
“If you have done that, you must delete that, or you will be held in contempt of the court,” Kuhl said. “This is very serious.”
Zuckerberg’s executive assistant, Andrea Besmehn, and another man were spotted wearing Meta glasses as they entered the Los Angeles courthouse.
The trial centers on whether social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to hook young people, and its outcome could impact thousands of similar lawsuits against such firms. The 20-year-old plaintiff—identified by the initials “KGM” or “Kaley”—alleges social media addiction led to her mental health issues. TikTok and settled with the plaintiff before the trial started.
Zuckerberg admits to struggles with public appearances
The plaintiff’s lawyer pressed Zuckerberg about his media training, citing an internal document where Meta communications staff encouraged him to appear more “authentic, direct, human, insightful and real” and to avoid being “try-hard, fake, robotic, corporate or cheesy” in public.
Zuckerberg denied being coached, saying the comments were just “feedback.”
“I think I’m actually well-known to be very bad at this,” he said, drawing some laughs. Zuckerberg has long faced mockery and criticism for seeming stiff, robotic or nervous during public appearances.
Zuckerberg says addiction “doesn’t apply here”
When Lanier asked if people use something more if it’s addictive, Zuckerberg replied: “I’m not sure what to say to that. I don’t think that applies here.”
Lanier challenged Zuckerberg about a past congressional hearing comment where he stated Instagram employees aren’t given goals to boost user time on the platform. Zuckerberg pushed back against the idea that user time spent on the app was a company priority.
Lanier presented internal documents from the Head of Instagram that appeared to contradict that claim. The documents noted the company aimed to actively increase daily user engagement time to 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 minutes in 2026.
Zuckerberg explained that Instagram previously had time engagement goals but shifted away from those targets to focus on utility, based on the “basic assumption” that “if something is valuable, people will use it more because it’s useful to them.”
Questions about young user safety
The plaintiff’s legal team spent a significant amount of time questioning Zuckerberg about Instagram’s efforts to remove users under 13.
Zuckerberg said some users lie about their age when signing up for Instagram. He added the company includes age limits in its sign-up terms and removes all identified underage users. He also repeatedly stated he believes companies like and —which manage operating systems and app stores—are better suited to handle age verification.
“You expect a 9-year-old to read all of the fine print,” a plaintiff’s lawyer asked Zuckerberg, according to CNBC. “That’s your basis for swearing under oath that children under 13 are not allowed?”
A Meta spokesperson told The Associated Press the company strongly disputes the lawsuit’s allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
Meta faces another consumer protection trial in New Mexico brought by the state’s attorney general, who alleges the company failed to prevent child sexual exploitation on its platforms.