A former Meta safety engineer has told a US court that the company knew about harmful experiences faced by children on its social media platforms. Arturo Béjar gave evidence in a major trial against Meta in Oakland, California. The case was brought by 29 US state attorneys general. Béjar said Meta knew about harmful content on Facebook and Instagram but did not do enough to stop it. He said the company followed a weak approach to child safety. Béjar worked at Meta for about eight years across two periods. His work included safety issues linked to Facebook and Instagram. He said he often briefed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about product risks. Béjar estimated that he spoke with Zuckerberg at least 100 times during his work at the company. In 2021, Béjar sent Zuckerberg an email about reports of harmful content and its effect on teenagers. He said he sent the message after Zuckerberg spoke in public about the company’s focus on safety. Béjar told the jury that he believed Zuckerberg had created a false view of Meta’s efforts to protect young people. The former engineer said he sent reports to Zuckerberg because he believed the CEO could make major changes when an issue became a top concern. But Béjar said Zuckerberg never replied to his email. Béjar also told the court that children could receive harmful material through Meta platforms. He said some users were shown content linked to sexual predators, violence and graphic images. The former engineer spoke about his own teenage daughter during his testimony. He said she received unwanted sexual messages, explicit images and abusive comments on Instagram. He said his daughter also found it hard to report some of the abuse through Instagram’s reporting systems. Béjar later began surveys to learn more about the experiences of teenagers on Instagram. He told the court that 51% of users in his survey said they had faced a bad or harmful experience during the previous seven days. He also said the content was removed only 0.02% of the time in the cases covered by his work. Béjar said he shared his findings with senior Meta leaders. Those leaders included Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. The case was brought by 29 US state attorneys general. They accuse Meta of designing its platforms in ways that encouraged young people to use them for long periods. The states also accuse Meta of collecting data from children under 13 without proper parental permission. California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill told jurors that protecting children is a shared duty. She said Meta had failed to do its part. The trial began with opening statements on Tuesday. It is taking place in Oakland and is expected to continue for at least six weeks. Zuckerberg and Mosseri are among the people expected to give evidence. Experts in child mental health and addiction may also appear before the court. The court is also reviewing a large amount of internal Meta material. The evidence includes company emails and other records. Meta denies the allegations made in the case. The company says it does not allow children under 13 to create accounts on its social networks. Meta’s lawyer also told the court that the company has removed more than one million accounts linked to users under that age. The company says it has also created tools to help people manage their use of its platforms. The case could have a major impact on Meta if the company is found liable. The states are asking the court to require changes to the design of Meta products to make them safer for children. Potential damages could reach $200 billion. That amount would be close to Meta’s total revenue for 2025. The trial could also affect how major social media companies build products for young users. Béjar told the court that more views can lead to more advertising sales and revenue. His testimony focused on whether Meta gave enough weight to child safety while seeking business growth. The court will hear more evidence from both sides in the coming weeks. The final ruling could shape future safety rules for children on social media.