Meta Platforms, Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in a Los Angeles Superior Court jury trial that he contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss the well-being of teens and children. The testimony came as part of a landmark case comparing the social media industry to historic "Big Tobacco" litigation.

Defense attorney Paul Schmidt highlighted a February 2018 email exchange where Zuckerberg wrote: "I believe our companies and Apple could work together on this, so I wanted to speak with Tim about it." The defense presented emails between Zuckerberg and young Instagram users to demonstrate his proactive approach to user safety, including outreach to a competitor company.

Zuckerberg stated during his description of the email content: "I care about the well-being of teenagers and children using our services."

The trial focuses partly on allegations that certain digital filters promote cosmetic surgery, a topic Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri previously addressed. Zuckerberg acknowledged consulting stakeholders about beauty filters on Instagram but didn't specify names. When questioned about lifting a ban he described as "paternalistic," Zuckerberg responded: "That sounds like something I would say and how I feel. It felt somewhat aggressive."

Under questioning about expert advice suggesting beauty filters negatively impact young girls, Zuckerberg referenced a University of Chicago study involving 18 experts. He identified the concern as relating to cosmetic surgery filters, noting the decision ultimately involved free expression considerations. "I genuinely want to empower people to express themselves as much as possible," Zuckerberg stated.

Zuckerberg echoed Mosseri's earlier testimony that Meta ultimately lifted the temporary ban on cosmetic filters without promoting them to other users. Defense attorney Mark Lanier presented an email from Margaret Stewart, Meta's VP of Product Design and Responsible Innovation, who supported Zuckerberg's final decision but considered it not the "right choice" given risks, citing personal family experience that gave her "firsthand understanding" of potential harms.

Zuckerberg acknowledged many Meta employees disagreed with the company's decision, a practice he said the company encourages. While understanding Stewart's perspective, he maintained insufficient causal evidence existed to support external experts' harm claims. When Lanier asked if Zuckerberg held a university degree demonstrating causality expertise, the Meta leader responded: "I don't have any college degrees," while affirming his understanding of statistical operations.

The trial, beginning in late January, centers on a young woman claiming addiction to social media platforms including Instagram and YouTube. Zuckerberg denied the company aims to increase user time spent on Instagram, characterizing a 2015 email referencing user engagement metrics as expressing corporate vision rather than formal targets.

Lawyers presented evidence from Mosseri indicating company plans to increase daily user time on platform to 40 minutes by 2023 and 46 minutes by 2026. Zuckerberg described these as internal milestones for competitive benchmarking and "achieving our desired outcomes," emphasizing the company builds services to help people connect.

Questioning addressed whether Meta sufficiently removes underage users from its platforms. Zuckerberg testified that some users misstate their age during Instagram registration, which requires users to be at least 13 years old. Lawyers presented documents indicating 4 million U.S. users under age 13 use the platform. Zuckerberg stated the company removes all identified underage users and includes age restriction terms during registration.

When a defense attorney challenged whether a 9-year-old could reasonably comprehend registration terms, Zuckerberg noted Instagram only began requiring birthday information during registration in late 2019. He repeatedly stated age verification suits companies like Apple and Google better, as they maintain mobile operating systems and app stores.

Zuckerberg later addressed documents showing higher platform retention among users who joined during their teenage years, accusing lawyers of "misinterpreting" his statements and noting Meta doesn't always launch developing products like a version of Instagram for users under 13.