Exclusive | Mark Zuckerberg is trying to wiggle out of testifying in person at a slew of social media trials

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is attempting to wiggle out of testifying in person at a wave of headline-grabbing trials on social media addiction this year — and plaintiffs are crying foul, The Post has learned.The Instagram parent is headed to Calif.federal court this summer as part of federal multidistrict litigation – a bid to streamline more than 2,400 lawsuits filed by school districts, state attorneys general and individuals into a few “bellwether” cases.The first, filed by Breathitt County School District in Kentucky, heads to trial on June 12.

In a pre-trial filing, Meta argued that Zuckerberg should only have to testify in person one time – with all other plaintiffs in upcoming trials forced to rely on a videotaped recording of that testimony when arguing their own cases in court. The plaintiffs fired back, arguing that doing so would “grant drastic, unique, wholesale protection just for Mr.

Zuckerberg (and him alone) while irreparably prejudicing thousands of plaintiffs.”Previn Warren, an attorney at law firm Motley Rice who serves as co-lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the consolidated federal case, slammed Zuckerberg for trying to dodge accountability in an exclusive statement to The Post.“Mr.Zuckerberg’s power, wealth, and status should not privilege his time over that of any other witness,” Warren said.

“He is capable of finding his way to the courthouse and should face each plaintiff in each trial.”On Friday, the state attorneys general attached to the federal case agreed to let Zuckerberg to testify via videotaped deposition.Warren is still pushing for case-by-case testimony for school districts.US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the case, is expected to rule any day on whether to approve Meta’s request.

She is also overseeing Elon Musk’s bombshell lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman.“Courts have said in the past that asking for Mr.Zuckerberg to testify over and over again is duplicative giv...