Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in court testimony Wednesday that he contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook will discuss “Adolescent and Child Well-Being.”
The comments come after defense attorney Paul Schmidt discussed an email exchange between Zuckerberg and Cook from February 2018. “I thought there were opportunities that our company and Apple could pursue and I wanted to talk to Tim about it,” Zuckerberg said.
The email exchange was part of a broader representation by defense counsel intended to show jury members that Zuckerberg was more proactive regarding the safety of young Instagram users than had previously been presented in court by opposing counsel, going so far as to reach out to a rival company.
“I care about the well-being of the teens and children who use our services,” Zuckerberg said while describing some of the email’s content.
Zuckerberg testified in a landmark trial in Los Angeles Superior Court on the issue of social networks and safety, which is compared to that of industry “Big Tobacco” moment.
Part of the trial focused on the alleged harms of certain digital filters promoting cosmetic surgery, which the Instagram chief Adam Mosseri had already testified earlier in the trial.
Zuckerberg said the company had consulted with various stakeholders about the use of beauty filters on Instagram, but it did not specifically name them. The plaintiff’s lawyer questioned Zuckerberg about posts showing he lifted the ban because it was “paternalistic.”
“That sounds like something I would say and something I feel,” Zuckerberg responded. “It’s a bit bossy.”
Zuckerberg was pressed on his decision to allow the feature after the company received advice from experts that beauty filters had negative effects, particularly on young girls.
He was specifically asked about a University of Chicago study in which 18 experts said beauty filters, as a feature, harmed teenage girls.
Zuckerberg, who noted that he thought these were so-called cosmetic surgery filters, said he saw these comments and discussed them with the team, and that it came down to free speech. “I sincerely want to prioritize giving people the opportunity to express themselves,” Zuckerberg said.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, arrives at Superior Court in Los Angeles on February 18, 2026.
Jill Connelly | Getty Images
Zuckerberg echoed sentiments previously expressed by Mosseri in court that Meta ultimately decided to lift the temporary ban on plastic surgery digital filters without promoting them to other users.
Defense attorney Mark Lanier noted that Margaret Stewart, Facebook’s vice president of product design and responsible innovation, said in an email that while she would support Zuckerberg’s final decision, she didn’t think it was the “right decision given the risks.” She mentioned in her post that she was dealing with a personal family situation that she said made her biased, but she gives her “first-hand knowledge” of the alleged harm.
Zuckerberg said many Meta employees disagree with the company’s decisions, something the company encourages, and while he understood Stewart’s point of view, there ultimately wasn’t enough causal evidence to support the outside experts’ claim of harm.
When Lanier asked if Zuckerberg had a college degree that would indicate expertise in causation, the Meta chief responded, “I don’t have a college degree in anything.”
“I agree, I don’t know the legal understanding of causation, but I think I have a pretty good idea of how statistics work,” Zuckerberg said.
The trial, which began in late January, centers on a young woman who claimed to have become addicted to social media and video streaming apps like Instagram And YouTube.
The Facebook founder objected to the idea that the social media company was making increasing time spent on Instagram a company goal.
Zuckerberg was addressing an email thread from 2015 in which he appeared to emphasize that improving engagement metrics was a pressing issue for the company.
Although the email chain may have contained the words “company objectives,” Zuckerberg said the comments could have been aspirational and claimed Meta did not have those objectives.
The lawyers then presented evidence of Mosseriwhich included goals to actively increase daily user engagement time on the platform to 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 minutes in 2026.
Zuckerberg said the company uses milestones internally to measure itself against competitors and “deliver the results we want to see.” He said the company is developing services to help people connect.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court before the social media trial investigating whether social media giants deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive in children, in Los Angeles, February 18, 2026.
Frederick J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
Lawyers also raised questions about whether the company had taken adequate steps to remove underage users from its platform.
Zuckerberg said during his testimony that some users lie about their age when they sign up for Instagram, which requires users to be 13 or older. The lawyers also shared a document indicating that 4 million children under the age of 13 were using the platform in the United States.
The Facebook founder said the company removes any underage users it identifies and includes age-related terms of service during the signup process.
“You expect a 9-year-old to read all the fine print,” a plaintiff’s attorney questioned. “Is that why you swear under oath that children under 13 are not admitted?”
Instagram only began requiring birthdays upon signup in late 2019. On several occasions, Zuckerberg has spoken about his belief that age verification is better suited to companies like Apple and Googlewhich manage mobile operating systems and application stores.
Zuckerberg then responded to questions about documents in which the company reported a higher retention rate on its platform for users who joined as teenagers. He said lawyers “distorted” his comments and that Meta did not always launch products in development, such as an Instagram app for users under 13.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, testifies during a trial in Los Angeles Superior Court in a key test case accusing Meta and Google’s YouTube of harming children’s mental health through addictive platforms, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 18, 2026, in a courtroom sketch.
Mona Edwards | Reuters
During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl threatened to hold anyone using AI smart glasses during Zuckerberg’s testimony in contempt of court.
“If you did this, you must remove it, otherwise you will be held in contempt of court,” the judge said. “It’s very serious.”
Team members escorting Zuckerberg into the building just before noon ET were photographed wearing the Meta Ray-Ban artificial intelligence glasses.
Recording is not permitted in the courtroom.
Lawyers also questioned whether Zuckerberg ever lied about the board’s failure to fire him.
If the board wants to fire me, I could elect a new board and reinstate myself,” he said, in response to remarks he previously made on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
During his interview with the podcaster last year, Zuckerberg said he wasn’t worried about losing his job because he holds the voting power.
Zuckerberg said in court that he was “very bad” with the media.
Read more CNBC tech newsLawyers representing the plaintiff claim that Meta, YouTube, TikTok And Instant misled the public about the safety of their services and knew that their app design and certain features caused mental health problems among young users.
Snap and TikTok settled with the complainant involved in the case before the trial began.
Meta has denied the allegations, and a spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that “the question before the Los Angeles jury is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in plaintiff’s mental health issues.”
Last week, Instagram Mosseri testified that while he believes there may be problematic social media use, he does not believe it is the same as a clinical addiction.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram at Meta Platforms Inc., arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, United States, Wednesday, February 11, 2026.
Caroline Brehman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
“So it’s a personal thing, but yeah, I think it’s possible to use Instagram more than you feel comfortable with,” Mosseri said. “Too much, it’s relative, it’s personal.”
The Los Angeles trial is one of several major court cases which took place this year and which experts have described as the social media industry’s “big tobacco” moment due to the alleged harm caused by their products and the efforts of associated companies to mislead the public.
Parents of children they say have suffered from the harmful effects of social media outside the Los Angeles courthouse on Wednesday, February 18.
Jonathan Vanian
Meta is also involved in a major project New Mexico trialin which state Attorney General Raúl Torrez claims the social media giant failed to ensure children and young users were safe from online predators.
“What we’re really alleging is that Meta created a dangerous product, a product that not only allows children to be targeted, but children to be exploited in virtual spaces and in the real world,” Torrez told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last week, at the start of closing arguments for the lawsuit.
This summer, another social media trial is expected to begin in the Northern District of California. This lawsuit also involves companies like Meta and YouTube and allegations that Their respective apps contain flaws that promote harmful mental health issues among young users.
CNBC’s Jennifer Elias contributed reporting.
WATCH: New Mexico AG Raul Torrez talks about his case against Meta
