Mark Zuckerberg is trying to wiggle out of testifying in person at a slew of social media trials | Latest Tech News
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making an attempt to wiggle out of testifying in person at a wave of headline-grabbing trials on social media habit this yr — and plaintiffs are crying foul, The Post has realized.
The Instagram father or mother is headed to Calif. federal court this summer time as half of federal multidistrict litigation – a bid to streamline more than 2,400 lawsuits filed by college districts, state attorneys basic and people into a few “bellwether” circumstances.
The first, filed by Breathitt County School District in Kentucky, heads to trial on June 12. In a pre-trial submitting, Meta argued that Zuckerberg ought to only have to testify in person one time – with all other plaintiffs in upcoming trials compelled to rely on a videotaped recording of that testimony when arguing their own circumstances in court.
The plaintiffs argue that Mark Zuckerberg ought to be handled just like any other witness. REUTERS
The plaintiffs fired back, arguing that doing so would “grant drastic, unique, wholesale protection just for Mr. Zuckerberg (and him alone) while irreparably prejudicing thousands of plaintiffs.”
Previn Warren, an attorney at law firm Motley Rice who serves as co-lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the consolidated federal case, slammed Zuckerberg for trying to dodge accountability in an exclusive assertion to The Post.
“Mr. Zuckerberg’s power, wealth, and status should not privilege his time over that of any other witness,” Warren said. “He is capable of finding his way to the courthouse and should face each plaintiff in each trial.”
On Friday, the state attorneys basic hooked up to the federal case agreed to let Zuckerberg to testify via videotaped deposition. Warren is still pushing for case-by-case testimony for college districts.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the case, is anticipated to rule any day on whether or not to approve Meta’s request. She is also overseeing Elon Musk’s bombshell lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman.
“Courts have said in the past that asking for Mr. Zuckerberg to testify over and over again is duplicative given the dozens of hours of testimony he and other senior executives have already provided,” a Meta spokesperson said in a assertion. “This is nothing more than a PR play by the plaintiffs’ lawyers to drum up more attention.”
Meta lately misplaced a landmark case in Los Angeles state court. REUTERS
Meta is scrambling to stave off a wave of lawsuits alleging its apps have fueled a teen mental health disaster. Meta has already suffered back-to-back losses in what critics hailed as a “Big Tobacco moment” for the proprietor of Facebook and Instagram.
On March 24, a New Mexico state jury slapped Meta with a $375 million penalty for failing to defend children from little one intercourse creeps. Just sooner or later later, a Los Angeles state jury discovered Meta and YouTube proprietor Google liable for $6 million in damages to a lady called KGM, who alleged that the apps fueled her descent into anxiety and depression.
The plaintiffs probably see a “strategic advantage” in securing live testimony from Zuckerberg on a trial-by-trial foundation, according to Adam Zimmerman, an knowledgeable on mass tort law and professor at USC.
“Bringing a CEO in front of a jury, and then cross-examining them can make them more real and take these ‘giants’ of tech and bring them down to size,” Zimmerman said. “There’s always the possibility that they say something different live as opposed to a carefully curated video.”
Meta argues that Mark Zuckerberg ought to only have to testify in person once. Getty Images
Zimmerman said videotaped testimony is “not uncommon in mass tort cases ranging from opioids to vaping cases” and past.
Still, there’s no guarantee that the decide will aspect with Meta in this case. Zuckerberg testified in person for the “KGM” case in Los Angeles, while he appeared via videotape in the New Mexico case.
Live testimony of a CEO stays the “gold standard” in civil circumstances because it permits the precise jury to see the cross-examination of the witness for themselves, according to Howard Erichson, a professor at Fordham University’s School of Law.
“On the other hand … the judge may view this as an opportunity to streamline the process and reduce the risk of settlement pressure that may be created if plaintiffs can impose a repetitive burden on the defendant’s chief executive,” Erichson added.
In their rebuttal to Meta’s movement, Warren and other plaintiff attorneys argue that “verdicts produced through pre-recorded video testimony of key witnesses should not have the same worth to the litigants, Court, or public.
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends the Senate Judiciary Committee listening to on online little one inappropriate exploitation at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 31, 2024. REUTERS
“Meta’s motion would negatively impact future bellwether trials in this case and set a precedent that invites other “repeat” witnesses—executives, company representatives, and consultants—to raise their palms for the same reduction,” the attorneys added.
Meta’s attorneys have been aggressive in their makes an attempt to defend Zuckerberg from any further personal publicity in the latest lawsuits.
As The Post reported in February, the company tried to block the plaintiffs from grilling Zuckerberg about his $237 billion personal fortune during the KGM trial.
KGM’s attorneys argued at the time that Meta was making an attempt to “shield Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder, CEO, and controlling shareholder, from the very same scrutiny that other witnesses have faced.”
The spat resulted in a partial victory for Meta, with California state Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl ruling that questions about Zuckerberg’s compensation and stock holdings have been allowed, while particular questions associated to his whole web value and property like property and houses — such as his 2,300-acre compound in Hawaii and $300 million superyacht — have been prohibited.
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