Meta Platforms CEO and billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to be questioned for the first time in a US court on Wednesday about Instagram’s effect on the mental health of young users, as a landmark trial over youth social media addiction continues.

While Zuckerberg has previously testified on the subject before Congress, the stakes are higher at the jury trial in Los Angeles, California.

Meta may have to pay damages if it loses the case, and the verdict could erode Big Tech’s longstanding legal defence against claims of user harm.

The lawsuit and others like it are part of a global backlash against social media platforms over children’s mental health.

Australia and Spain have prohibited access to social media platforms for users under age 16, and other countries are considering similar curbs.

In the US, Florida has prohibited companies from allowing users under age 14. Tech industry trade groups are challenging the law in court.

The case involves a California woman who started using Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube as a child.

She alleges the companies sought to profit by hooking kids on their services despite knowing social media could harm their mental health. She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to hold the companies liable.

Meta and Google have denied the allegations and pointed to their work to add features that keep users safe. Meta has often pointed to a National Academies of Sciences finding that research does not show social media changes kids’ mental health.

The lawsuit serves as a test case for similar claims in a larger group of cases against Meta, Alphabet’s Google, Snap and TikTok. Families, school districts and states have filed thousands of lawsuits in the US accusing the companies of fueling a youth mental health crisis.

Zuckerberg is expected to be questioned on Meta’s internal studies and discussions of how Instagram use affects younger users.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, testified last week that he was unaware of a recent Meta study showing no link between parental supervision and teens’ attentiveness over their own social media use.

Teens with difficult life circumstances more often said they used Instagram habitually or unintentionally, according to the document shown at trial.

Meta’s lawyer told jurors at the trial that the woman’s health records show her issues stem from a troubled childhood, and that social media was a creative outlet for her.

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The power and petroleum ministers on Wednesday assured the nation that there would be no electricity and gas loadshedding during Sehr and Iftar during this Ramazan.

Addressing a joint press conference alongside Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, Power Minister Awais Leghari said, “We have decided that there will be absolutely no loadshedding in any area — unless there is a huge fault God forbid — during the timings of Sehr and Iftar.

“Even economic loadshedding in areas with high-loss feeders will be restricted at the time of Sehr and Iftar,” he added.

Leghari noted that it was Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s wish that those fasting were provided with utility services in a proper and timely manner so they “do not face any issues”.

Meanwhile, Malik stated that “complete arrangements” had been made to ensure the supply of gas “with maximum pressure from 3am to 10:30pm, especially during Sehr and Iftar”.

Leghari affirmed that it would be ensured that “there is no suspension of electricity during these timings across Pakistan”.

He highlighted that a special control room has been established at the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) to monitor all feeders and ensure the same.

“You have the 118 helpline; please file a complaint on it if you face any kind of issues. It will be addressed immediately,” the power minister said.

In his remarks, Malik said the decision regarding no gas loadshedding was taken after consultations with the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), so that the public could be provided with “as many facilities as possible”.

“Additional volumes have been arranged,” he said.

For gas-related issues, consumers can lodge a complaint on 119, the petroleum minister stated, adding that situation rooms have been established in the SNGPL and SSGC head offices.

He added that directives have also been issued to the regional offices to monitor the supply of gas, especially “on the tail ends”.

Malik contended that the gas supply in the winter this year was comparatively better than in previous winters.

“With all these efforts, the Power Division and the Petroleum Division are trying to become a source of ease during the blessed month of Ramazan,” the minister said.

After the Ramazan moon was sighted in other parts of the world last night, Pakistan is expecting to begin the holy month with the first fast on Thursday.

In a supply schedule issued days ago for Karachi and its nearby areas, the SSGC said gas would be available from 3am to 9am for Sehr and from 3:30pm to 10pm for Iftar, with the supply expected to be suspended outside these hours to manage overall demand.

Similarly, the SNGPL had proposed providing gas from 3am to 10:30pm daily during the upcoming holy month across Punjab.

On Tuesday, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling for no gas loadshedding during Sehr and Iftar.

“We have already written to the federal government,” Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said.

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ISLAMABAD: An Inte­r­national Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Iva Petrova is due to visit Pakistan on Feb 26 to review implementation of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the $1.1bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), officials said.

During the almost two-week visit ending March 11, the engagements would be of greater significance as both sides would also discuss budget proposals based on performance this year and set broad contours of the upcoming budget (for the fiscal year 2026-27), particularly those relating to provincial finances.

The programme’s performance as of end-Dece­mber 2025 — the period for review — has mostly been up to the mark, alb­eit with a revenue shortfall, which authorities bel­i­eve could be reduced following a recent super tax ruling by the Federal Cons­t­ituti­onal Court that went in the government’s favour.

The power sector would also remain under added scrutiny given volatile policymaking in the recent months, including those relating to the industrial sector, residential fixed cha­rges and so on, altho­ugh circular debt numbers are within the target range.

On the positive side, Pak­istan has met almost all quantitative performa­nce criteria for end-Dece­mber 2025. However, it is lagging behind in indicative targets and structural benchmarks, which could affect future programme implementation.

Given the biannual reviews of the $7bn EFF and the $1.1bn RSF, the two sides will have to agree on past performance as well as forward-looking implementation plans.

Upon the successful completion of the review, Pakistan will be eligible for the disbursement of about $1bn (760 million Special Drawing Rights) under the EFF and another $200m under the RSF by the end of April.

Meanwhile, Topline Research said it expected Pakistan to meet nearly all quantitative performance criteria (QPCs).

“As per our calculation, Pakistan is likely to meet nearly all seven QPCs; however, data for one indicator is not known yet,” it said, referring to the floor on targeted cash transfers, which it said was missed in the previous review by Rs1bn.

However, it perhaps missed the point that the slippage was only technical in nature, as lower spending was not related to beneficiaries but to lower administrative expenses.

Topline also observed that net international reserves were likely to remain below at around $6.7bn against the $7bn benchmark for September 2025 and below $6bn for December 2025 against the $6.5bn benchmark.

“The net domestic assets (NDA) of the SBP are likely to remain in the range of Rs12.5-13.5tr vs the ceiling target of Rs14.9-15.1tr for September and December 2025,” it said.

It said that as per the State Bank, foreign currency swaps stood at $2.2bn for September 2025 and $1.86bn for December 2025, compared to ceiling targets of $2.25bn and $2bn, respectively. It also estimated primary surplus figures of Rs3.5tr and Rs4.1tr for September and December compared to targets of Rs460bn and Rs3.2tr.

“The government guarantees and floor on cash transfer spending are also likely to be met as per our channel checks. Similarly, the new tax return target is also expected to be achieved,” Topline said.

It added that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) indicative criteria were missed by Rs336bn but hoped that a portion of this missed target could be collected through the super tax verdict, though the collection would still remain below the annual target.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2026

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