GEOFF BENNETT: Our Ali Rogin has more on this now from the perspective of a parent.

ALI ROGIN: Geoff, Maurine Molak lost her son, David, back in 2016 when he died by suicide.

She is not a plaintiff in this case, but she is the co-founder of Parents for Safe Online Spaces, a coalition of families who have lost children to online harms and are bringing similar lawsuits.

Maurine, thank you so much for joining us.

First of all, tell me about your son David.

MAURINE MOLAK, Co-Founder, Parents for Safe Online Spaces: Thanks for having me, Ali.

David was the youngest of three boys.

And he -- we grew up in a Christian home.

We went to church on Sunday.

He was an Eagle Scout and a basketball player.

And after a serious basketball injury, David, while he was rehabbing, turned to social media and online gaming.

And over a period of about eight, nine months, we started to see a real change in his behavior.

He was showing all the signs of a behavioral addiction.

And we were seeking out mental health supports.

And that's when he became the target of cyber-bullying by a group of classmates at his home.

And it was the final match on a huge bonfire that just exploded in our home, and David lost hope and took his own life.

ALI ROGIN: And now, today, lawyers for the plaintiffs in the social media case are arguing that this is about the ABCs, which stands for addicting children's -- addicting the brains of children, intentionally doing so.

Would you say that that has been your experience, that that is what happens to children?

And do you draw a line between David's use of social media and his death?

MAURINE MOLAK: I absolutely do believe that it played a major role, if not the catalyst of what made him take his life or to feel like that there was no way out of the situation.

In my particular situation, David's behavior was, he would get angry and aggress when we would try to get him to stop using his devices.

He was sneaking around using them when he wasn't supposed to.

He was lying about completing his schoolwork.

And then there towards the end, he started stealing from us in order to purchase virtual assets to increase his player power through some of these gaming platforms.

Even after David was medically cleared to go back and play basketball, he no longer had the desire to and he preferred to sit behind a screen.

And that's when we knew we were in this very serious situation with him.

And parents that I have been working with for the last four years or so have been crying out that these social media companies are designing them in a way that is addicting our children, and they are operating with complete impunity.

ALI ROGIN: I'd like to read from you -- to you the statement from Meta today, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram -- quote -- "We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.

For over a decade.

We have listened to parents to make meaningful changes, like introducing teen accounts with built-in protections and providing parents with tools to manage their teens experience."

How do you respond?

MAURINE MOLAK: Well, first of all, of course they're going to say that because they are on trial right now.

I would just say that we have been working with whistle-blowers for many years, and we know that the internal documents, we're going to see the evidence.

We're going to see new evidence that's going to be released this week that's going to show that what Meta claims is not actually the truth.

And so all of the internal documents that are going to show that even their only internal research is going to show that they were addicting kids, they knew what was happening, and they didn't do enough to stop it.

ALI ROGIN: Maurine, you were in the hearing room with Mark Zuckerberg when he testified before the Senate in 2024.

I'd like to ask you what that was like.

And how do you think parents who are in the courtroom with him today are feeling?

MAURINE MOLAK: Well, it was a very surreal moment to be that close to Mark Zuckerberg, knowing that David was harmed on his platform Instagram.

And the apology was a forced apology.

It was a very shallow apology.

But what he's done since then, actions speak much louder than words.

ALI ROGIN: Are you hoping for any recourse as a result of this particular trial?

MAURINE MOLAK: I think we're going to see the court of public opinion.

I think parents will be vindicated, I think, these families who have been talking about this and not knowing what happened what to do in order to protect their kids online.

This is not a parent problem.

So I think that what we're going to see is actual change is going to come out of these -- this trial.

This is not the only trial we're going to see.

There's many more to come.

ALI ROGIN: Maurine Molak, co-founder of Parents for Safe Online Spaces, thank you so much.

MAURINE MOLAK: Thank you, Ali.