Aug. 25, 2026
Ex-Meta scientist says wellbeing team partly aimed to shield company from lawsuits
Former Meta data scientist George Volichenko testified that safety features were often sidelined if they threatened core usage metrics, while a plaintiffs' expert faced questions about whether research establishes that social media causes youth mental health problems.
A former Meta data scientist testified Monday that a manager told him the Instagram user wellbeing team he worked on "exists partially to protect the company against the upcoming lawsuits," as four states resumed their case alleging Meta misrepresented the risks of social media use.
"Everything I saw was kind of supporting that," George Volichenko, who previously worked at Meta before rejoining in 2022 to work on wellbeing, said from the stand at the federal co...
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