Opening statements began Tuesday in a US federal case accusing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, of designing its platforms in ways that harmed young users’ mental health. Colorado, California, New Jersey and Kentucky presented the coalition’s case before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in federal court in California.
The lawsuit was filed in 2023 by a bipartisan coalition of 29 states. The trial is expected to last several weeks, and an eight-person jury will serve in an advisory role while Judge Rogers makes the final decision.
What the states allege
The states allege that Meta made design choices intended to hook users and encourage excessive use among its youngest users. They also accuse the company of collecting data from children under 13 in violation of federal law.
Megan O’Neill, a deputy California attorney general, said in her opening statement that Meta’s products were designed to keep users engaged, collect their data and conceal risks from the public. She said those effects worked “especially well for kids.”
Related coverage: Why Meta’s US trial could reshape child safety on social media.
Meta rejects the case’s claims
Meta says the states’ allegations are unsubstantiated and maintains that it has created protections for teenagers. The company points to Instagram Teen Accounts, launched in 2024, which limits who can contact underage users, along with a feature allowing parents to set usage time limits.
Meta also argues that the states have not shown that anyone in their jurisdictions was misled. It describes the requested financial penalties as disproportionate and disputes claims involving features such as additional Instagram accounts and age verification.
Possible penalties and requested changes
The coalition is seeking roughly $200bn in fines and platform changes, including new age restrictions and an end to infinite scroll. The case could expose Meta to fines as high as $1.4 trillion, according to the source material, although that figure is separate from the coalition’s requested amount.
More context: How a landmark court case proved Meta and Google built addictive social media platforms.
The litigation followed Frances Haugen’s 2021 testimony before a US Senate committee. Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, alleged that the company knowingly promoted products that could affect young users’ health while pursuing higher profits. Meta sought to end the coalition’s lawsuit in 2024 and again in June through a request for summary judgment, but the case proceeded to trial.
Meta has separately been ordered to pay $942m in a New Mexico lawsuit: $375m in civil penalties from a March jury verdict and $567m ordered by a judge earlier this month. The company disclosed in a January Securities and Exchange Commission filing that lawsuits, including those involving youth social media addiction, could result in substantial monetary damages or fines.
Also read: New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $567m over youth harm.
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