NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A grieving mother is calling on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to "face the music" as he takes the stand in a trial over claims social media platforms are designed to addict young users.
Deb Schmill, a founding member of Parents for Safe Online Spaces, lost her 18-year-old daughter, Becca, to fentanyl poisoning in 2020 after the teenager allegedly connected with a dealer on Facebook.
"It's a historic moment. It’s time for this man to actually face the music. He's gone for too long without any accountability," Schmill said Wednesday on "America Reports."
NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICAN VOTERS BACK SOCIAL MEDIA BAN FOR KIDS UNDER 16, FOX NEWS POLL SHOWS
Meta CEO and Chairman Mark Zuckerberg arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court ahead of a trial examining whether social media companies designed their platforms to be addictive to children, in Los Angeles on Feb. 18. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Zuckerberg took the stand in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday in a case brought by a woman, known only as K.G.M., who claims technology companies design their platforms to keep young users engaged. She blamed those platforms for contributing to her mental health struggles.
JILLIAN MICHAELS: BIG TECH BUILT A DIGITAL DRUG — AND OUR KIDS ARE HOOKED
Schmill said her daughter similarly faced troubling moments online. She said Becca was raped by a boy she met in a group chat and later bullied on Snapchat.
"He [Zuckerberg] purposely has his product designed to addict children. When he finds out that a feature harms kids, he says, ‘Let's just keep going with it. Don't change it,’" Schmill said.
"He could change everything in an instant and be protecting his users, but he chooses not to," she argued.
Deb Schmill holds a photograph of her daughter, Becca, during a visit to the Newton Cemetery in Newton, Massachusetts, on March 6, 2024. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Meta rejected Schmill's characterization, writing, "The reverse is true: we’ve intentionally designed automatic defaults like Sleep Mode that encourage teens to leave the app and pause notifications over night. Parents can go even further by restricting their teens’ total time to as little as 15 minutes a day or setting scheduled breaks when teens are required to exit our apps."
In January 2024, Zuckerberg addressed families of children harmed online during testimony before Congress, saying "no one" should have to endure what they have. He added that Meta has been focusing on efforts to improve safety for young people.
"It's terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered," he said. "And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis" in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 31, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
But Schmill said she does not believe Zuckerberg’s apology, arguing he has worked against the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). The bill is designed to protect minors from harm online by enforcing safety requirements for digital platforms.
"He succeeded last session, he and others, in preventing the Kids Online Safety Act from passing, and we're just hoping this session, it actually makes it through Congress," she said.
A Meta spokesperson told Fox News Digital that KOSA's "duty of care" provision is overly broad and would allow the FTC, rather than parents, to decide what content is appropriate for children. The company said it supports federal legislation requiring app stores to obtain parental approval for app downloads by users younger than 16, which it says puts parents in the driver’s seat.
Madison is a writer for Fox News Digital on the Flash team.
