Former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar testified in Oakland that Instagram largely avoided probing accounts held by children younger than 13, giving the states a witness-specific turn in their youth-harms trial against Meta.

Former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar gave the states their cleanest insider witness so far in the Oakland youth-harms trial, telling jurors Wednesday that Instagram largely avoided examining accounts held by children younger than 13, according to AP’s courtroom report carried by the Mercury News↗ (external source, opens in a new tab). Meta publicly sets 13 as the minimum age for an account, in line with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

That matters because the case is now past opening statements and into evidence. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are the first four states trying claims from the larger 2023 youth-safety case, including allegations that Meta collected data from children under 13 without parental consent and misled the public about safety on Instagram and Facebook. California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said before openings↗ (external source, opens in a new tab) that the Oakland trial is expected to run about six weeks in federal court.

Bejar is useful to the plaintiffs because he is not just an outside critic. He worked at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, later returned on safety work from 2019 to 2021, and had already put his critique under oath. In written Senate Judiciary Committee testimony dated November 7, 2023↗ (external source, opens in a new tab), Bejar said Meta’s public child-safety reporting failed to reflect internal research about minors’ experiences on Instagram.

Meta denies the states’ allegations and says trial evidence will show its commitment to safety. The missing piece is still the public trial transcript and the exhibits behind Bejar’s account. Until those surface, Wednesday’s testimony is a sharp development, but the document fight is not finished.