RismadarVoice Reporters, August 20, 2026
A former Meta engineering director, Arturo Béjar, has testified that CEO Mark Zuckerberg fostered a corporate culture in which child safety was treated as less important than user engagement and business growth on Facebook and Instagram.
Béjar made the allegation on Wednesday during his second day of testimony in a landmark federal trial in Oakland, California, involving claims by a coalition of U.S. states that Meta’s platforms harm young users.
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are among the states accusing Meta of designing its platforms to keep young people engaged, contributing to anxiety, depression and suicide, while allegedly misleading consumers about the safety of its services.
A total of 29 states also accuse the company of violating federal law by collecting and using the personal information of children under 13 who used its platforms.
The trial, which began Tuesday and is expected to last six weeks, is being closely watched as one of the biggest legal examinations of the impact of social media on children.
Jurors are expected to issue an advisory verdict, while U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will determine whether Meta is liable and, if so, impose any civil penalties or order changes to Facebook and Instagram.
Béjar, the states’ first witness, said Zuckerberg was deeply involved in major company decisions and that Meta’s top-down management structure meant significant product changes were implemented only when the CEO made them a priority.
“If Mark makes something a priority, mountains move in months,” Béjar testified.
Béjar, who worked at Meta from 2009 to 2015 and later examined the experiences of teenage Instagram users as an independent contractor between 2019 and 2021, also challenged Zuckerberg’s 2021 response to allegations by whistleblower Frances Haugen.
At the time, Zuckerberg had denied that Meta knew its products were unsafe for children and deliberately ignored the risks for profit.
Béjar said he subsequently emailed Zuckerberg to raise concerns about child safety, arguing that the CEO’s claims did not reflect the situation inside the company.
During cross-examination by Meta lawyer Brian Stekloff, Béjar acknowledged that he did not anticipate the level of abuse his teenage daughter would encounter when he helped her create an Instagram account.
Béjar said his daughter had wanted to use the platform to connect with women interested in cars but was subjected to misogynistic comments, including remarks about her body.
She was 16 in 2021 when Béjar contacted Zuckerberg about the issue.
“I kept an eye on how distressing it was for her,” Béjar said, adding that she gained a substantial following but experienced harm in the process.
Béjar also acknowledged that Meta employs hundreds of workers dedicated to safety and that many of them are highly qualified. However, he said he did not work directly with Zuckerberg during his second period with the company and had limited access to some resources as an outside contractor.
Earlier in his testimony, Béjar told lawyers representing the states that Meta placed user engagement and profits ahead of safety.
He criticised Meta’s tool designed to encourage users to take breaks from its platforms, arguing that it was ineffective because it was not enabled by default and its reminders could easily be ignored.
Béjar also claimed that Meta had technology capable of identifying potentially millions of users who were under 13 but adopted what he described as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach because stricter enforcement could hurt long-term revenue.
After Béjar completed his testimony, jurors heard recorded testimony from Meta researcher Elena Davis, who had examined the potentially addictive nature of social media.
Meta is facing thousands of similar lawsuits over alleged harm to children.
Béjar has previously testified against the company in four cases. One lawsuit filed by New Mexico resulted in a $942 million award in damages and penalties, alongside an order requiring Meta to make changes to its platforms in the state.
