Oakland (United States) (AFP) – A former employee testified on Wednesday that some of Meta's safety tools for Facebook and Instagram were "designed to fail," contradicting the company's defense strategy in a landmark trial in California.
Issued on: 19/08/2026 - 21:20
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For a second day, Meta is fending off accusations by a coalition of US states that it deliberately designed its products to hook children and gather their data while misleading the public.A loss for the social media giant could see it slapped with a $200 billion penalty, force fundamental changes to its business model and send shockwaves through the industry.Meta doesn't deny that some users, including teens, have negative experiences on its two core apps, but the company maintains it created features to reduce those risks."There can be no dispute that Meta has both recognized that people can struggle with their use of social media and tried to come up with tools to help them," Meta's lawyer, Paul Schmidt, said on Tuesday during opening statements. However, Meta made some of those tools opt-in, meaning that users had to intentionally turn them on, including a feature launched in 2021 called "Take a Break," which lets users set reminders to take breaks from scrolling on Instagram. "In my experience, 'Take a Break' is a feature that's designed to fail," Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, testified on the second day of a trial that is expected to last around six weeks.Bejar is the first witness to take the stand and has argued that the company prioritized profits over safety by encouraging people to spend more and more time on Facebook and Instagram.That strategy led to decisions like making safety features optional, including tools designed to combat endless scrolling or limit enticing notifications."Notifications are built and designed in order to bring people back, so they spend more time and get more revenue. They're not designed for mental health... or the safety of the person," Bejar said on Wednesday.Days before the trial, Meta attempted to block Bejar from testifying, a move that the judge denied.- 'Big tobacco moment' -
