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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsA plaintiffs’ court filing attributes a 2021 text message to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying: “I’m not going to say [child safety] is my personal main focus when I have a number of other areas I’m more focused on like building the metaverse.” The filing uses the message to support a broader claim that Meta put growth and strategic projects ahead of youth safety.
That is not the same as a court finding that Zuckerberg considered child safety unimportant or formally ranked the metaverse above it. The quotation appears in plaintiffs’ evidence in ongoing litigation, and Meta disputes the interpretation and the wider allegations.
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What the alleged message actually says
The sentence is reproduced in the plaintiffs’ Omnibus Opposition to Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment, filed November 21, 2025, in the Northern District of California. The brief cites Exhibit 664, page 2509, and presents the text as a message Zuckerberg sent to confidants in 2021.
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“I’m not going to say [child safety] is my personal main focus when I have a number of other areas I’m more focused on like building the metaverse.”
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The headline formulation that child safety was “less important” is an interpretation of that sentence, not its exact wording. Zuckerberg is quoted as saying child safety was not his personal main focus and naming the metaverse as one of several areas receiving more of his attention. The message does not expressly say that child safety was unimportant, that the metaverse had a formal higher rank, or that safety work should stop.
The filing is publicly available here. The public material establishes that plaintiffs presented the quotation and cited a discovery exhibit; it does not independently authenticate the complete message thread, its recipients, or all surrounding context.
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Where the allegation came from
The quotation appears in In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, case number 4:22-md-03047-YGR. This multidistrict litigation combines claims involving Meta, TikTok, Google/YouTube and Snap. The 235-page filing was submitted by plaintiffs opposing defendants’ summary-judgment motions.
Because the sentence comes from an adversarial brief, its presentation is an argument about what discovery evidence means. It is not a judicial finding that Zuckerberg made the statement or that Meta violated the law. Related member litigation continued in 2026, including a case opened in the Northern District of California on January 26, 2026 (docket record).
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How Nick Clegg’s funding requests fit in
Plaintiffs place the alleged message alongside communications about Meta’s well-being and safety resources. According to the filing, then-Meta executive Nick Clegg warned Zuckerberg in an August 27, 2021, proposal that well-being work was understaffed and fragmented and requested additional investment. The filing says Clegg later submitted a scaled-back funding proposal in November 2021 and that no additional headcount followed.
Plaintiffs argue that this sequence helps show how safety priorities were treated inside Meta. The available filing supports a funding request and a separate statement about Zuckerberg’s priorities; it does not establish that Clegg presented Zuckerberg with a literal choice between child safety and the metaverse, or that the quoted message was a direct rejection of that request.
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What plaintiffs allege about Meta’s youth-safety decisions
The brief and contemporaneous reporting connect the message to a wider theory about growth-first decision-making. These points remain allegations attributed to plaintiffs, former employees or internal documents discussed in the filing:
- Safety and well-being teams were allegedly underfunded or fragmented.
- Product and ranking decisions allegedly favored engagement and growth, even when safety changes could reduce teen use.
- Internal research allegedly documented harmful experiences among young users.
- Plaintiffs allege that Meta delayed, limited or resisted some safety measures and enforcement changes.
- The filing also discusses allegations involving under-13 users, harmful content, child sexual exploitation material and reporting failures. Those separate allegations are not proved merely by the Zuckerberg quotation.
Reuters’ report on the filing describes the claims as part of lawsuits brought by U.S. school districts and other plaintiffs over alleged harms to young users (reporting).
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What Meta says
Meta disputes the plaintiffs’ account. The company has characterized the allegations as relying on “cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions,” argued that its youth-safety efforts are broadly effective, and defended its teen-safety systems. The reported response also says Meta’s policy is to remove accounts once they are flagged for sex trafficking.
Those statements are Meta’s position in the dispute, just as the claims in the 2025 brief are the plaintiffs’ position. The underlying internal documents cited by plaintiffs are not all publicly available, making the complete evidentiary record difficult to assess from the brief alone.
What is established—and what is not
| Supported by the public record | Not established by the quotation alone |
|---|---|
| A November 21, 2025, plaintiffs’ brief contains the quoted sentence. | That Zuckerberg formally ranked the metaverse above child safety. |
| The brief attributes the message to Zuckerberg, places it in 2021 and cites Exhibit 664 at page 2509. | That he considered child safety unimportant or ordered safety work halted. |
| Plaintiffs connect the message to their account of Nick Clegg’s 2021 well-being funding requests. | That every allegation in the brief is true or that the message directly rejected Clegg’s request. |
| The allegation remains part of continuing multidistrict litigation. | That a court has made a final finding validating the message’s authenticity, meaning or legal significance. |
How to read the headline accurately
The most defensible interpretation is narrower than “Zuckerberg chose the metaverse over children.” Plaintiffs say the message shows that child safety was not Zuckerberg’s chief personal focus while he was concentrating on several other priorities, including the metaverse. Whether that priority choice translated into inadequate staffing, harmful product decisions or legal liability is a separate question the litigation is still contesting.
The plaintiffs’ evidence library lists continuing filings and discovery materials (evidence library). Until a court rules on the evidence, the quotation should be reported as an allegation grounded in a specifically cited filing—not as an admission or a proven explanation of Meta’s conduct.
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