A former Meta Platforms engineering director has told a landmark trial that Mark Zuckerberg helped create a company culture in which protecting children took a back seat to growth and user engagement on Facebook and Instagram.
Arturo Bejar, one of Meta’s most prominent critics, made the accusation during the second day of testimony in a case brought by a coalition of US states that could force significant changes to the social media platforms.
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California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey allege that Meta designed its services to draw young users in and keep them engaged, contributing to anxiety, depression and suicide while misleading the public about the platforms’ safety.
The four states, joined by 25 others, also claim Meta breached federal law by improperly collecting and using the personal information of children under 13 who used its platforms.
Mr Bejar, the states’ first witness, said Mr Zuckerberg remained closely involved in major decisions and that Meta’s top-down structure meant changes to product design generally happened only when the chief executive directed them.
“If Mark makes something a priority, mountains move in months,” Mr Bejar said.
He also challenged Mr Zuckerberg’s response in October 2021 to allegations from whistleblower Frances Haugen, who said Meta knew its products could harm children and understood how to make them safer but chose greater profits instead.
Mr Zuckerberg said at the time that Meta continuously used research to improve its products.
“It’s so false, every part of it,” Mr Bejar said. “You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids.”
Misogynistic comments toward daughter
Mr Bejar worked for Meta between 2009 and 2015. From 2019 to 2021, he also worked as an independent contractor helping assess the wellbeing of teenage Instagram users.
He said he was not working directly with Mr Zuckerberg during that period and, as an outside contractor, did not have access to some company resources.
Mr Bejar has repeatedly criticized Meta’s record on child safety. In 2023, he told a US Senate committee that the company knew teenagers faced harassment and other harms on its platforms but failed to take adequate action.
During cross-examination by Meta lawyer Brian Stekloff, Mr Bejar acknowledged that he did not understand the risks his daughter might face in 2021, when he helped her open an Instagram account that she still uses.
His daughter was 16 at the time and wanted to create a community where women could talk about cars. Instead, Mr Bejar said, she encountered misogynistic remarks, including comments about her breasts.
“I kept an eye on how distressing it was for her,” Mr Bejar said. “She got a good following, at the price of harm.”
Profit over safety
Earlier in his testimony, Mr Bejar told lawyers representing the states that Meta placed user engagement and revenue ahead of safety.
He criticized a break-reminder tool that Meta has highlighted in its defence, saying it was “designed to fail” because it is not enabled by default and its prompts are easy for users to dismiss.
Mr Bejar further testified that Meta had technology capable of identifying users who appeared to be under 13 and requiring them to verify their age. But he said the company effectively ignored those signals under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach because retaining younger users was financially valuable over time.
“Where the youngest kids are is where the users are going to be in the future,” he said.
Experts have described the case as the most significant legal examination yet of social media’s impact on young people.
Meta is also facing thousands of comparable lawsuits alleging that its platforms have harmed children.
Mr Bejar has emerged as a central witness for the company’s opponents in three of the cases that have reached trial.
One of those cases, filed by New Mexico, ended with Meta ordered to pay $942 million (€806m) in damages and penalties and to make changes to its platforms in the state.
