March 4, 2026, 22:05 GMT | Comment
A New Mexico jury has heard only from current Meta Platform executives through taped depositions, as the state is expected to rest its case after hearing from its final live witness on Wednesday.
A New Mexico jury has heard only from current
Meta Platforms executives through taped depositions, as the state is expected to rest its case in a consumer protection trial over alleged social media harms after hearing from its final live witness on Wednesday.
Throughout the trial — in which New Mexico has alleged the social media company misled users about harms to children on its platforms — and another in Los Angeles where a young woman is suing Meta and
Google over the alleged addictive design of their social media platforms, lawyers have pointed to internal memos and communications from the companies' executives to highlight their attitude toward child safety.
However, only lawyers in Los Angeles have been able to ask the executives directly, in person, about what they’ve said, allowing the jury to see firsthand their responses. That’s because third parties to civil lawsuits cannot be compelled to testify in person if they live or work too far away from the court.
Trials are an artform, and it’s up to the lawyers to choose who they wish to call throughout the trial. Lawyers have to decide if it’s advantageous to subpoena a possibly adverse witness. Or the parties could possibly strike a deal with the defendants to bring witnesses in at a later date if live testimony is deemed necessary.
Live testimony is often more engaging to a jury because they can see witnesses answering questions in real time, rather than watching a pre-recorded video deposition that has already been cut to adhere to the court’s rules.
The Los Angeles jury heard from executives firsthand early on in the case brought by a 20-year-old woman known as KGM, who is alleging she was addicted and harmed by social media companies’ business models (see
here).
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri was the second witness in the trial (see
here), the day after Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry at
Stanford University Medical School, testified about behavioral addiction (see
here).
KGM’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, kicked off Mosseri’s questioning by asking about his income from Meta, attempting to tie his personal interest in company growth to the decisions made about children’s safety. Mosseri largely kept his cool, denying that his positions on safety had to do with the company’s revenues.
Similarly, CEO Mark Zuckerberg kept calm when confronted by Lanier, saying, “With all due respect, you’re asking me about emails I sent 10 years ago to make a point about how we operate the company now” (see
here).
There had been some speculation as to whether Mosseri and Zuckerberg would be in New Mexico in person to testify. They were listed on the state’s Feb. 15 witness list as being potentially called to testify either “live or by deposition.”
However, New Mexico ultimately had to opt for the often less-exciting form of testimony via video deposition because none of the executives live within 100 miles of the Santa Fe courthouse. They could not be compelled to come in.
This will continue to be an issue as Meta and other social media companies face similar litigation in states around the country. While each state has slightly different rules, they generally have a specific radius within which litigants can require third parties to testify.
Much of the litigation the companies face will take place in San Francisco, close to where the executives live and work. But individuals whose cases are consolidated in the state court in Los Angeles can also seek a special court order to compel a witness outside of the state’s allotted 150-mile radius.
— With reporting from Mike Swift and Maria Dinzeo in Los Angeles.
Please email editors@mlex.com to contact the editorial staff regarding this story, or to submit the names of lawyers and advisers.
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