Ex-Meta Executive Testifies Zuckerberg Prioritized Growth Over Child Safety

A former Meta engineering director testified Wednesday that CEO Mark Zuckerberg built a company culture that placed growth and engagement above child safety on Facebook and Instagram. Arturo Bejar, a longtime critic of Meta’s safety record, made the claim in a major trial brought by a coalition of states in Oakland federal court, expected to run six weeks.

States Allege Addictive Design and Data Violations

California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, joined by 25 other states, accuse Meta of designing platforms to hook young users while misleading the public about safety, and of illegally collecting data from children under 13.

Zuckerberg Called Central to Decisions

Bejar said meaningful product changes typically only happened when Zuckerberg personally ordered them, and disputed the CEO’s 2021 denial of whistleblower claims that Meta knew its products were unsafe but avoided fixes to protect profits.

Bejar also criticized Meta’s break-reminder tool as intentionally weak, since it isn’t the default setting. He said Meta had tools to flag underage users but avoided acting on them to preserve growth.