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A former engineering director at Meta Platforms testified on Wednesday that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a culture that treated child safety as secondary to growth and engagement on Facebook and Instagram.

Arturo Bejar, a long-time critic of Meta’s safety record, made the allegation on his second day on the stand in a landmark trial brought by a coalition of states that could reshape how Facebook and Instagram operate.

What The States Are Alleging?

California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey accuse Meta of designing its platforms to hook young users, fuelling anxiety, depression and even suicide, while misleading consumers about their safety. These states, along with 25 others, also allege that Meta violated federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal data of children under 13.

Experts have called the trial the biggest legal test yet of social media’s impact on young users. It opened in an Oakland, California federal court on Tuesday and is expected to run for six weeks. Jurors will deliver an advisory verdict, after which U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide on Meta’s liability and any resulting penalties or platform changes.

“Mountains Move” When Zuckerberg Wants Them To

Bejar told the court that Zuckerberg was closely involved in key decisions at the company, and that Meta’s top-down culture meant product design changes largely happened only when he personally ordered them. He also pushed back on Zuckerberg’s 2021 remarks, made after whistleblower Frances Haugen’s allegations, that Meta relied on research to keep improving its products, calling that account inaccurate and saying he had emailed Zuckerberg directly with his safety concerns at the time.

His Own Daughter’s Experience On Instagram

Bejar worked at Meta between 2009 and 2015, and later studied teen wellbeing on Instagram as an independent contractor from 2019 to 2021. He had earlier told a U.S. Senate committee in 2023 that Meta knew teenagers faced harassment on its platforms but did not act on it.

Under cross-examination by Meta’s lawyer Brian Stekloff, Bejar admitted he had not anticipated the harm his own teenage daughter would face when he helped her set up an Instagram account, which she still uses. He said she had wanted a space to discuss cars with other women but instead faced misogynistic comments, including about her body, and that he had watched how distressing the experience was for her even as her following grew.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” On Underage Users

Bejar earlier told the states’ lawyer that Meta prioritised engagement and profit over user safety. He described a break-reminder feature, central to Meta’s defence, as ineffective by design since it isn’t switched on by default and is easy to dismiss. He also said it was widely understood internally that most parents lacked the time to fully grasp how their children used Meta’s products, and that despite having technology capable of flagging potentially millions of underage users, the company followed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach that favoured long-term profit.

He did, however, acknowledge under questioning that Meta employs hundreds of people working on safety, some of whom he considered well qualified, and noted that during his second stint at the company, he lacked direct access to Zuckerberg or certain internal resources as an outside contractor.

Researcher’s Testimony On Habit-Forming Design

After Bejar concluded his testimony, jurors heard recorded evidence from Meta researcher Elena Davis, who had studied the platform’s potential for addictiveness. Her report suggested Meta could redesign Facebook to be less habit-forming and to better support users trying to cut back on their usage.

Meta is currently facing thousands of similar lawsuits linked to alleged harm to children, and Bejar has appeared as a key witness against the company in four such trials so far. One of those cases, brought by New Mexico, resulted in $942 million in damages and penalties, along with an order requiring Meta to change its platform in that state.

(Inputs From Reuters)