The executive that helped build Meta’s ad machine is trying to expose it

Source: The Verge

Background

Brian Boland spent more than a decade figuring out how to build a system that would make Meta money.

Testimony

On Thursday, he told a California jury that the platform incentivized drawing more and more users—including teens—onto Facebook and Instagram, despite the associated risks.

Context

Boland’s testimony came a day after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand in a case over whether Meta and YouTube are liable for allegedly harming a young woman’s mental health. Zuckerberg framed Meta’s mission as balancing safety with free expression, not revenue. Boland’s role was to counter this narrative by explaining how Meta makes money and how that shaped its platforms’ design.

Read the full story at The Verge