Paul Schmidt

“As you hear the evidence we will be asking you, does this prove the specific things they are claiming?”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-19

Schmidt addressed the jury while contesting O'Neill's allegations against Meta.

“What else does the document say?”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-18

Meta's attorney addressed the rest of the findings in the cited research document.

“There can be no dispute that Meta has recognised people struggle, or can struggle, with their use of social media, and has come up with tools to try and address that,”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-18

Meta's attorney argued that the company has introduced tools to help users who struggle with social media use.

“This is what they are trying to do in their job. How can we figure this out…one in five teens are telling us that Instagram makes them feel worse about themselves. What can we do to support teens in this space?”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-18

Paul Schmidt defended Meta's studies by arguing they demonstrated efforts to support teens on Instagram.

“That 41% of teens said it made them feel better and another 41% said it had no effect.”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-18

Meta's attorney highlighted positive and neutral responses from teens in the same internal document.

“That sounds pretty bad.”

Paul Schmidt · said 2026-08-18 · reported 2026-08-18

Meta's attorney acknowledged how a cited internal statistic initially sounded to the jury.