"Boland's testimony came a day after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand in a case over whether Meta and YouTube are liable for allegedly harming a young woman's mental health. Zuckerberg framed Meta's mission as balancing safety with free expression, not revenue. Boland's role was to counter this by explaining how Meta makes money, and how that shaped its platforms' design."
"He said he's been described as a whistleblower - a term Meta has broadly sought to limit for fear it would prejudice the jury, but which the judge has generally allowed. Over his 11 years at Meta, Boland said he went from having "deep blind faith" in the company to coming to the "firm belief that competition and power and growth were the things that Mark Zuckerberg cared about most.""
Meta's platforms incentivized drawing more users, including teens, onto Facebook and Instagram despite risks to mental health. Meta framed its mission as balancing safety with free expression rather than prioritizing revenue. Platform monetization needs shaped product design and internal incentives that emphasized growth and profit over user wellbeing. Company actions included efforts to limit the use of the term "whistleblower" in litigation. An executive recounted moving from deep blind faith in the company to a firm belief that competition, power, and growth were the priorities of Mark Zuckerberg during eleven years at Meta, culminating in public criticism.
Read at The Verge
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]