Zuckerberg Acknowledges Criminal Activity 'Inevitable' on Meta Platforms in Court Testimony
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stated in a taped deposition played for jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that criminal behavior is an unavoidable reality on the company's platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The deposition was part of a trial where New Mexico's attorney general, Raul Torrez, alleges that Meta knowingly enables predators to exploit children on its social media apps.
Massive User Base and Inevitable Harms
Zuckerberg emphasized that with billions of users, a small percentage will inevitably engage in criminal activities. "I just think if you're serving billions of people, the unfortunate reality is that some very small percent of them are going to be criminals, and we should work as hard as we can to stop that activity from happening," he said. He added that perfection in preventing such harms is not a realistic standard for the platforms.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, echoed this sentiment in his own deposition, noting that connecting billions of people online leads to both positive and negative outcomes, including risks to children such as sexual exploitation and mental health detriments.
Trial Allegations and Meta's Defense
The trial, which began in early February and is expected to last about seven weeks, pits Meta against New Mexico's attorney general, who accuses the company of prioritizing profits and user engagement over child safety. Prosecutors presented evidence that in 2020, Meta estimated 500,000 children daily received sexually inappropriate communications on Instagram, including grooming attempts by adults.
Meta disputes these allegations, citing investments in safety features. A company spokesperson stated, "We have strict, longstanding rules against child exploitation and have invested billions to fight it, both through proactive detection technology and safety features designed to prevent harm." The company also highlighted the introduction of Teen Accounts in 2024, which default to stricter privacy settings for users under 18.
Encryption Controversy and Safety Gaps
Jurors heard that Zuckerberg authorized end-to-end encryption for Facebook Messenger in 2023, despite warnings from child safety groups like Thorn and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that this could increase risks to children. Zuckerberg defended the move, stating that user privacy is a pressing concern, and encryption prevents unauthorized access to messages.
However, child safety advocates argue that encryption makes it harder to detect and report child sexual abuse imagery. Testimony revealed that reports of such material decreased after encryption was implemented. Meta countered that it can still review encrypted messages if users report them.
Internal Challenges and Ongoing Risks
Internal documents discussed at trial showed gaps in Meta's safety measures. For instance, an internal audit from December 2022 indicated that Meta continued to recommend minor accounts to some adults, and the "People you may know" algorithm was identified as a main driver of inappropriate interactions in 79% of cases in 2018. Additionally, about 30% of adults whose accounts were disabled for targeting children returned to the platform and resumed that behavior.
Mosseri acknowledged these challenges, stating that Meta uses technology to identify suspicious accounts and prevent them from interacting with teens. In 2025, the company identified over 265 million Facebook accounts and 135 million Instagram accounts with potentially suspicious behavior and proactively restricted their access to teen profiles.
Despite these efforts, researchers have identified weaknesses in Meta's protections, such as exposure to harmful content through hashtags or recommendations and instances where safety features did not function as intended. The trial continues to explore these issues, with Zuckerberg and Mosseri's depositions highlighting the complex balance between user privacy, platform safety, and the inherent risks of operating at a global scale.
