Zuckerberg to Testify in First Major Social Media Addiction Case

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Luke Vargas (0:32)

Mark Zuckerberg faces his day in court in a landmark trial testing claims that social media harms teens. Plus India tries to model a frugal AI strategy for the developing world and strain in the US commercial real estate market nears a breaking point.

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The problem with office is not a cyclical problem. People just are using office less because of hybrid work, because of remote work. That's not going to come back and as a result these loss and valuations that we're seeing won't change.

Luke Vargas (1:03)

It's Wednesday, February 18th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify today in a landmark trial on social media addiction. It's the first of several bellwether trials planned in California and revolves around a young woman's claim that platforms like Meta's Instagram foster addiction in adolescence and caused her a host of mental health problems. The plaintiff's lawyer, Mark Lanier, told Fox Business' Varney & Co. what he plans to ask Zuckerberg.

SPEAKER_4 (1:43)

Well, we slapped a subpoena on Mark Zuckerberg on purpose because we've got documents with his name that he authored that we believe show he put profits over the safety of children.

Luke Vargas (1:55)

Meta says that it has consistently put teen safety ahead of growth. The company's lawyers say its products aren't addictive and aren't responsible for a plaintiff's mental health issues. Meanwhile, Europe is dialing up the pressure on big tech. The Spanish government this week asked prosecutors to investigate several social media platforms for potential crimes against minors relating to AI-generated images. And that's just the start of it. Ireland is now probing X, the UK's prime minister is cracking down on chatbots, and the EU wants TikTok to ditch its infinite scroll. The companies have denied any wrongdoing. Journal tech reporter Sam Schechner said the concerted push against predominantly American companies isn't entirely a coincidence.

Sam Schechner (2:41)

In this political moment, after what's happened with Greenland, after threats from the Trump administration, European governments are eager to show that they aren't going to back down in enforcing EU tech laws. Those can relate either to digital competition, or they can relate to content moderation. The Trump administration has made pretty clear that they want Europe to back off on enforcing some of these rules. At first, there was maybe a little bit of tentative enforcement, soft-rolling some of these things to help secure trade deals, but the shine is off right now and they're not holding back.

Luke Vargas (3:17)

And specifically around children, Sam said that while some governments are trying to regulate tech platforms, others are considering stricter measures.

Sam Schechner (3:25)

Yeah, it looks like banning social media for younger teens is the new viral trend for governments. What started as this sort of isolated legislative gamble from Australia has spread to over a dozen capitals, where leaders are seizing on these issues related to childhood. France earlier this year, the lower house of parliament, passed a bill that would do that for under-15s. The UK is launching a consultation. And then just this week, one of the two parties in Germany's ruling coalition threw its weight behind the proposal to do something similar in Germany. Now, they're not necessarily agreed on the age yet, but that puts Europe's largest economy in the bucket of these countries, like France, Spain, the UK, Denmark, actively considering implementing some of these bans.

Luke Vargas (4:12)

Well, the effective AI and chatbots are also front and center at India's AI Impact Summit this week. In just a few years, the event has turned into a key date on the calendar for private sector AI players, as well as government officials eager to regulate or tap into the technology's potential. Our South Asia Bureau Chief Tripty Lahiri is in New Delhi this morning for that summit.

Tripty, I've seen that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been out there touting AI's potential prospects this week, but also emphasizing this morning that the technology needs to be inherently human, mutually beneficial. I'll be honest, it sounds a little fluffy, but I'm curious if there's any real ideas coming to the fore about how to make it so.