Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial; The New York Times, February 18, 2026

 Eli Tan, The New York Times; Mark Zuckerberg Takes the Stand in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial

"Mr. Zuckerberg’s appearance in court — his first time testifying about child safety in front of a jury — was highly anticipated. Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook and has more than 3.5 billion users, has come under fire as one of the biggest providers of platforms for teenagers. Parents, as well as tech policy and child safety groups have accused the company of hooking young people on its apps and causing mental health issues that have led to anxiety, depression, eating disorders and self-harm...

In internal documents that surfaced in some of the lawsuits, Mr. Zuckerberg and other Meta leaders repeatedly played down their platforms’ risks to young people, while rejecting employee pleas to bolster youth guardrails and hire additional staff...

K.G.M.’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, said during his opening statement this month that Instagram and YouTube’s apps were built like “digital casinos” that profited off addictive behavior. He pointed to internal documents from Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, comparing their technology to gambling, tobacco and drug use. In a 2015 memo, Mr. Zuckerberg encouraged executives to prioritize increasing the time that teenagers spend on Meta’s apps.

Meta said in its opening statement that K.G.M.’s mental health issues were caused by familial abuse and turmoil. The company presented medical records to show that social media addiction was not a focus of her therapy sessions."

Bangor Public Library dealing with unprecedented spike in crime; WABI5, March 2, 2022

Brian Sullivan, WABI5; Bangor Public Library dealing with unprecedented spike in crime

"In January and February, Bangor police have had to respond to the library 38 times.

“Everything from fights to drug overdoses, drug possession, some drug dealing, some drug trafficking that appears to be going on right out in open in the open inside the library. We’ve also had some sexual type crimes, sex in public taking place in the bathrooms, suspicion of prostitution,” said Betters.

Officials tell TV5 the increase in these instances at the library have followed the closing of a nearby daytime warming shelter and the end of the funding that utilized the Ramada Inn.

“Think there is a higher level of those experiencing homelessness within the library clearly during the day, and I think we all know that many of them are facing significant substance use disorder issues, mental health issues, and many times cooccurring at the same time. So, it is a challenging population. So, I’m not surprised that there is that number,” said Debbie Laurie, Bangor City Manager.

Organizations that work with this population to try and help find a path forward visit the library multiple times a week.

“Have people who are coming in here because they’re escaping a dangerous situation at home. They don’t have their social security card. They don’t have their ID. They’re going through the bureaucracy of rebuilding their life, and they’re not here causing trouble,” said Treat. “Like if we had 40 people in here at a given time who are experiencing homelessness, I would guess it was probably three, four, or five people who are, you know, a cluster of people who are causing trouble, and we need to respond to that three or four or five people.”"