WSJ Tech News Briefing
TNB Tech Minute: Mark Zuckerberg Testifies at Landmark Social Media Trial
18 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, February 18th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified today at a landmark social media trial in Los Angeles. Meta and Google's YouTube are facing the first of 3,000 lawsuits filed against them, alleging that the companies should be held liable for building algorithmic recommendations and product features, such as the infinite scroll and autoplay that make it difficult for teens to log off.
A lawyer for the plaintiff presented a 2015 internal email in which Zuckerberg stated a goal for 2016 was to increase users' time spent by 12%. Zuckerberg responded that the company used to give team goals on time spent but doesn't do that anymore.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said in a statement prior to the trial's start that the plaintiff's lawyers will try to paint an intentionally misleading picture of Meta and that it has consistently put teen safety ahead of growth.
Chapter 2: What are the key details of Mark Zuckerberg's testimony at the social media trial?
The trial is expected to go for another five weeks. Snapchat and TikTok were also originally defendants in the case but settled with the plaintiff before the trial began. The Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to advance sweeping reforms to its nearly $3 billion Lifeline phone and internet subsidy program for low-income households.
Championed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the changes aim to tighten eligibility and crack down on wasteful spending and improper payments. A government review found that over a nearly five-year period, about 117,000 deceased individuals from California, Texas, and Oregon received Lifeline benefits totaling $5 million. Another nearly 5.5 million was claimed for duplicate enrollments.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Ana Gomez opposed the proposed reforms as short-sighted and punitive, raising concerns about purging eligible recipients. The FCC is expected to finalize the reforms within a few months. And Moody's joined the financial information companies pushing back against worries their businesses could be undercut by AI models.
Its CEO said on an investor call today that the company's data can't be synthesized from public sources, so it's, quote, both AI-enabling and AI-resilient. Earlier Wednesday, the company reported a quarterly profit of $610 million, higher than analyst consensus. And that's it for your TMB Tech Minutes. We'll have another quick tech update in the morning.